Goodnight Saigon

Music for the study of the Vietnam War
collected by John J. Fitzgerald
Longmeadow High School
Longmeadow, MA 01106
(not to be sold)

"Goodnight Saigon"

We met as soul mates on Parris Island.
We left as inmates from an asylum.
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives.
And we were so Gung Ho, to lay down our lives.

We came in spastic, like tameless horses.
We left in plastic, as numbered corpses.
And we learned fast, to travel light.

Our arms were heavy, but our bellies were tight.

We had no home front; we had no soft soap.
They sent us Playboy; they gave us Bob Hope.
We dug in deep and shot on sight.
And prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might.

We had no cameras to shoot the landscape.
We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes,
And it was dark, so dark at night.
And we held on to each other like brother to brother.
We promised our mothers we'd write.

And we would all go down together.
Yes, we would all go down together.

Remember Charlie, remember Baker.
They left their childhood on every acre.
And who was wrong? And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight.

We held the day in the palm of our hand.
They ruled the night.
And the night seemed to last,
as long as six weeks on Parris Island.

We held the coastline. They held the highlands.
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives.
They heard the hum of our motors. They counted the rotors.
And waited for us to arrive.

And we would all go down together.
We said we'd all go down together.
Yes we would all go down together.