The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #63920 Message #1044412
Posted By: Bob Bolton
30-Oct-03 - 07:40 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: War Correspondent (Eric Bogle)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: War Correspondent-Eric Bogle
G'day Amergin,
I'm actually at home (back from the shanty session on the 1880s square-rigger James Craig).
I've got the first Eric Bogle Song Book (OK - this is the Irish rip-off copy the songs of eric bogle, but it's mostly a direct facsimile). Here's a corrected copy:
WAR CORRESPONDENT
(Eric Bogle)
Good evening. I'm Ross Symons with the news from the ABC.
A record profit's been announced by the board of BHP,
In the the second cricket test in Perth, the Aussies face defeat
Whilst the drought in western New South Wales means dearer cuts of meat,
And our special correspondent in Saigon
Says three Australian soldiers have died in Vietnam.
And the special correspondent sat in a Saigon bar.
With the help of Johnny Walker, he'd pushed away the war.
And questions with no answers that had rattled round his head
Have lost their urgent clarity, and were faded round the edge.
Though tomorrow they'd again be sharp and clear,
Tonight they had been lost amongst the bar girls and the beer.
Ask a silly question, like why the hell you're here,
Learning how to live with death, suffering, and fear
For war's a game for soldiers, it's not for men like you.
Is it something that you have to find, something you must prove?
Or are you hooked upon the adrenalin
That living on the edge of dying brings?
But here you are in Vietnam. You're a long way from home,
Doing what you're paid to do, the best way that you can.
Objectively you watch the war, never taking sides.
What you feel, what you really feel, is hidden deep inside,
For you're not being paid to moralise,
And anyway a man can lose his reason asking "Why".
And if you ever get back home, you'll never be the same.
The man that was before Vietnam can never be again.
And in ten years when you look back to weigh and count the cost,
Perhaps you'll see that Vietnam gave you back more than you lost.
And from it, if you learn nothing else,
Perhaps you may get to know yourself.
Roll up, roll up, and see the show.
TV soldiers in a row.
Hear them laugh, hear them cry.
Watch them run, see them die.
It's not in colour, but that's all right.
War's better viewed in black and white.
White for us, and black for them,
with no grey shadows in between.
(I think I picked up most of the corrections!)
Regards,
Bob Bolton