Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)

Subject: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: InOBU
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 06:05 PM

The Bivouac of the Forgotten
Words Lorcan Otway Tune Mill o Tefty's Annie
All rights reserved
Otway 2003

Oh Gunny is there a tent for me,
in the bivouac of the forgotten?
For I've just got back from the desert sands,
Fighting for Halliburton

No, You can share this grate with me,
and a bottle to help forget
For the cost of the war that we fought
Was deducted from our V.A. check

Oh, Gunny, all those things we've done,
will haunt my darkest dreams
And now I've lost those few things I had
Is this what M.I.A. means?

There's Bill out here, who in Viet Nam
Had a silver star pinned on him
And Sparrow who fought in Panama
And the first Gulf war brought us big Jim

Where are the folks, who called for war
When we are cold and broken
They're urging young folks to go and die
Or return and be forgotten.

So, there it is, another new song, There is a Bill and a Sparrow. Sparrow spent many years after service in jail, and Bill is the best kind of fellow you'd ever want to meet. He lives on the street in the rain and snow, basking in the thanks of a thankful nation? With a silver star to keep him warm.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: mg
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 06:45 PM

very beautiful words. Reminds me of a Kipling poem..something like the return of the lost brigade...mg

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: InOBU
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 07:17 PM

After singing it a few dozen times to record it... here is the tweeked version. Cheers Larry
The Bivouac of the Forgotten
Words Lorcan Otway Tune Mill o Tefty's Annie
All rights reserved
Otway 2003

Oh Gunny is there a tent for me,
in the bivouac of the forgotten?
For I've just got back from the desert sands,
Fighting for Halliburton

No, You can share this grate with me,
and a bottle too cheep to mention
For the cost of the war that we fought
Was deducted from our pension

Oh, Gunny, all those things we've done,
will haunt my darkest dreams
And now I've lost those few things I had
Is this what M.I.A. means?

There's Bill out here, who in Viet Nam
Had a silver star pinned on him
And Sparrow fought in Panama
And the first Gulf war brought us big Jim

Where are the folks, who called for war
When we are cold and broken
They're urging young folks to go and die
Or return and be forgotten.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: The cold grey water
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 07:25 PM

There was a survey a few years back that revealed that one in three of those sleeping rough on the streets of London had been in the armed forces.

A few years back when there was the D-Day Fiftieth Anniversary Commemorations, and it coincided with a quote all over the media from Prime Minister John Major, calling those sleeping rough "eyesores", and with stories about the practice of hosing down the streets in some places (outside posh hotels for example) to get rid of them. And all that came together in a song I wrote.

Yes, Larry's new one is reminiscent of Kipling - second time someone has said that about one of your songs in a few days. That's impressive. Anyway, it reminded me of that one I wrote, so here it is:

The cold grey channel and the cold grey sand
And the old men singing to a marching band,
The old men singing as they pass on by,
And the bright flags fly against the cold grey sky
And then the beach is empty
as the tide comes back
And the water covers up
the old men's tracks
The cold grey water washes all away,
the cold grey water, on the longest day.

Well it's been fifty years now
since that cold grey day,
when the young men landed
and were blown away.
And the shells rained down
as they came in to land,
and their blood was mingled with the cold grey sand.
and now the beach is empty
as the tide comes back
and the water covers up
the young men's tracks.
The cold grey water washes all away,
the cold grey water, on the longest day.

But we were all together then, or so they say.
Well, it sure as hell is not like that today.
You see the young ones begging.
Aren't they paying the cost
for that land of heroes, which we somehow lost.
Well, in the fields of Normandy,
they're sleeping still,
and in the streets of London,
where the bombs once fell.
And now you call them eyesores,
to be washed away.
Maybe they're only heroes
on the longest day.
And now the streets are empty,
and the stones are swept,
and the water covers
where the beggars slept.
And the cold grey water washes all away.
The cold grey water of the longest day.

But in the fields of Normandy,
they're sleeping still,
and in the streets of London,
where the bombs once fell.
And now you call them eyesores,
to be washed away.
But they could all be heroes
on the longest day.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: InOBU
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 09:12 PM

Jeeze Kev:
That is lovely! Why is it that we who are against war, are the only ones who think of broken soldiers?
Cheers
Larry

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: mg
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 09:41 PM

I can assure you that very many of us who would be falsely accused of being "for war" think daily of broken soldiers. mg

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: InOBU
Date: 13 Apr 03 - 10:02 PM

Hi Mary:
I don't doubt that. However, when I am sitting with Bobby on the street corner, talking with the guys who came back broken, I don't see many of them. Closest I came, was on last Sunday's monthly vigil. We Quakers have had a vigil for peace, every first sunday for oh about 30 years. This past sunday some guys passing by shouted, why don't you idiots do something for the homeless, do some good for a change. I said, we do help the homeless, do you? His responce was, I do it for a living, asshole... Well, there we are most of we Quakers on the line, do it for free. Now, I am sure that there are lots of folks helping homeless vets - especially in small towns where there may be less folks for peace, but here in New York, I just have not seen them. I know this is not a scientific study, but, that has been my experience. I also have heard lots of pro war songs like the song of the green berets, but that crowd see the MIAs as being held in some secret camps in Veit Nam today, not on our streets. The songs about the abandoned vets seem to support my contention that when the toy soldiers get broken, those who play war throw them away.
Please, I know I don't have to tell you, your heart often comes through in your posts, but please ask others who support the war to support the vets. Insist that the cost is not taken from their benefits and that folks who support the war, give a homeless vet thermal underwear this winter if not a place to sleep.
God bless
Larry

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: InOBU
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 02:37 PM

Here is Larry kicking himself. I ran into BOBBY today, the silver star recipiant in the song, I have known him for years! and for some stupid reason I wrote Bill.., so this is how the song SHOULD go, I just re-recorded it, and will drop off the corected version with WBAI today, they are playing the CD today. Ooooohhhhh.... SOrry Bobby. So I will make up for it, by introducing you to Bobby. He was a sargent in 1964. His brother was a male nurce in the Air Force, also in Viet Nam.

The Bivouac of the Forgotten
Words Lorcan Otway Tune Mill o Tefty's Annie
All rights reserved
Otway 2003

Oh Gunny is there a tent for me,
in the bivouac of the forgotten?
For I've just got back from the desert sands,
Fighting for Halliburton

No, You can share this grate with me,
and a bottle too cheep to mention
For the cost of the war that we fought
Was deducted from our pension

Oh, Gunny, all those things we've done,
will haunt my darkest dreams
And now I've lost those few things I had
Is this what M.I.A. means?

There's Bobby here, who in Viet Nam
Had a silver star pinned on him
And Sparrow fought in Panama
And the first Gulf war brought us big Jim

Where are the folks, who called for war
When we are cold and broken
They're urging young folks to go and die
Or return and be forgotten.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 02:51 PM

I think I'd think of this song as "Missing in Action".

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: InOBU
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 03:31 PM

Yes indeed! I think the name came to me, as the guys often camp out together and help each other out, as they did "in country". Cheers Larry

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: GUEST, Claymore
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 05:34 PM

Many of the folk songs which are most popular today were those that sing of the losses of young men for some undefined or useless cause, and yet even today, I cannot think of any democracy existing in the world at this moment, that was not purchased with blood... the very democracies that allow them to sing their songs...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 05:58 PM

Claymore, the heart of Larry's song (and my song too) isn'tM/I> about the futility of war, it's about the way in which those who were damaged in war are betrayed by the people who sent them.

Being angry about that is one issue where there should be common cause between all decent people, whatever they might think about whether the wars involved should have happened or could have been avoided.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Bivouac of the Forgotten (New Song)
From: InOBU
Date: 14 Apr 03 - 09:03 PM

Ditto to what McGrath said... and as to "I cannot think of any democracy existing in the world at this moment, that was not purchased with blood" could be the flaw in our democracies, eh?
Larry