https://prole.wiki/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Library%3ATalking_Vietnam_BluesLibrary:Talking Vietnam Blues - Revision history2026-10-25T23:07:51ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.11https://prole.wiki/w/index.php?title=Library:Talking_Vietnam_Blues&diff=65952&oldid=prevConnolly1916: Added Song2024-04-27T02:21:30Z<p>Added Song</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Library work|title=Talking Vietnam Blues|author=Phil Ochs|published_date=1964|type=Song}}<br />
<br />
== Lyrics ==<br />
Sailing over to Vietnam<br />
<br />
Southeast Asian Birmingham<br />
<br />
Well training is the word we use<br />
<br />
Nice word to have in case we lose<br />
<br />
Training a million Vietnamese<br />
<br />
To fight for the wrong government and the American Way<br />
<br />
<br />
Well they put me in a barracks house<br />
<br />
Just across the way from Laos<br />
<br />
They said you're pretty safe when the troops deploy<br />
<br />
But don't turn your back in your house boy<br />
<br />
When they ring the gong, watch out for the Viet-Cong<br />
<br />
<br />
Well the sergeant said it's time to train<br />
<br />
So I climbed aboard my helicopter plane<br />
<br />
We flew above the battle ground<br />
<br />
A sniper tried to shoot us down<br />
<br />
He must have forgotten, we're only trainees<br />
<br />
Them Commies never fight fair<br />
<br />
<br />
Friends, the very next day we trained some more<br />
<br />
We burned some villages down to the floor<br />
<br />
Yes we burned out the jungles far and wide<br />
<br />
Made sure those red apes had no place left to hide<br />
<br />
Threw all the people in relocation camps<br />
<br />
Under lock and key, made damn sure they're free<br />
<br />
<br />
Well I walked through the jungle and around the bend<br />
<br />
Who should I meet but President Diem<br />
<br />
Said you're fighting to keep Vietnam free<br />
<br />
For good old Diem-ocracy<br />
<br />
That means rule by one family<br />
<br />
And 15,000 American troops, give or take a few<br />
<br />
Thousand<br />
<br />
American<br />
<br />
Troops<br />
<br />
<br />
He said: "I was a fine old Christian man<br />
<br />
Ruling this backward Buddhist land<br />
<br />
Well it ain't much but what the heck<br />
<br />
It sure beats hell out of Chiang Kai-shek<br />
<br />
I'm the power elite, me and the 7th fleet"<br />
<br />
<br />
He said: "meet my sister, Madam Nhu<br />
<br />
The sweetheart of Dien Bien Phu"<br />
<br />
He said: "Meet my brothers, meet my aunts<br />
<br />
With the government that doesn't take a chance<br />
<br />
Families that slay together, stay together"<br />
<br />
<br />
Said: "If you want to stay you'll have to pay<br />
<br />
Over a million dollars a day<br />
<br />
But it's worth it all, don't you see?<br />
<br />
If you loose the country you'll still have me<br />
<br />
Me and Syngman Rhee, Chiang Kai-shek, Madam Nhu<br />
<br />
Like I said on Meet the Press<br />
<br />
'I regret that I have but one country to give for my life'"<br />
<br />
<br />
Well now old Diem is gone and dead<br />
<br />
All the new leaders are anti-Red<br />
<br />
Yes they're pro-American, freedom sensations<br />
<br />
Against Red China, the United Nations<br />
<br />
Now all the news commentators and the CIA<br />
<br />
are saying, "Thank God for coincidence"<br />
[[Category:All the News that's Fit to Sing]]<br />
[[Category:Library works by Phil Ochs]]<br />
[[Category:Song lyrics]]</div>Connolly1916