What are the best Vietnam era songs?

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: mg
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 12:12 AM

by Phil Ochs I think...

if I were free to speak my mind I'd tell a tale to all mankind of how the flowers do bloom and fade of how we fought and how we paid..

mg

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 12:27 AM

Not mentioned on this thread, but mentioned on others is "Jimmy Clay" by Patrick Sky.

Also, the other night on the A&E Special by David Crosby, Pete Seeger commented that he thought the best song written about the war during that time was "Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" by Joe MacDonald. Interesting choice from Pete and in a way it surprised me.

Spaw

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: CamiSu
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 12:44 AM

Fadac,

the war ended when I was in college. More like 26 years ago... I got a draft notice and had to tell them they weren't drafting women.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Marymac90
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 01:27 AM

WAR-What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING!!!

Children of Darkness, by Richard Farina

Many by Phil Ochs, including Draft Dodger Rag and I Ain't Marchin Anymore.

I agree that Judy Small's Mothers, Daughters, Wives, although written in 84, is an important look at VietNam, comparing it to other wars, from the perspective of the women left at home.

No More Genocide in My Name, among others by Holly Near-I just posted the lyrics on another thread!

I agree that Buffy Sainte-Marie also made a number of imortant contributions, including Universal Soldier, later recorded by Donovan.

Pete Seeger's contributions include Turn, Turn, Turn, recorded by the Byrds, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, and the ubiquitous Where Have All the Flowers Gone, among many others.

Tom Paxton's many offerings include The Willing Conscript.

Bob Dylan's contributions include With God on Our Side.

Mary McCaffrey

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Oversoul
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 01:30 AM

"Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic. This said it all for me.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: GUEST,the resonator
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 02:43 AM

i'll go with marymac90 on this one. edwin starr's "war" is one of the angriest and most powerful protests songs of that era. also, marvin gaye's "what's going on" gives a good spin on a veteran coming home to a strange, and different land.

peace.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: LR Mole
Date: 29 Aug 00 - 01:34 PM

Yeah: as mentioned, lots of Phil Ochs, including Cops of the World and White Boots Marchin' in a Yellow Land .

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Fadac
Date: 29 Aug 00 - 03:26 PM

CamiSu, Well this is a song thread. One tune that brings tears to my eye, is "Flowers of the Forest" It's a bit older than the Viet Nam conflit, but the message is the same.

Just for fun, look up Naplam in the data base.

Not ALL of the songs protest the war.

-fadac

Subject: Lyr Add: NEVER ENOUGH^^
From: mg
Date: 30 Aug 00 - 02:42 AM

here's one that came to me today..

Never Enough

Never enough. never enough.
The times I would fake it! the times I would bluff!
I wasn't that skilled and I wasn't that tough.
Oh, God, it was never enough!

I went there to sing and I must have sung some,
But I drank to forget and I drank to stay numb.
A drunken old woman is what I've become,
Oh, God, it was never enough!

The radio sputtered by night and by day.
I couldn't make out all the words they did say.
So some men were captured and some got away.
Oh, God, it was never enough!

Some went to fight and some went to heal.
What was stolen from me was not theirs to steal.
Now sorrow and rage are all that I feel.
Oh, God, it was never enough!

Out of all that I sent, why can't I go instead?
With so many wounded and so many dead.
They'll come back to haunt me and that's what I dread.
Oh, God, it was never enough!

I worked on the airbase and met all the planes.
I'd stand and salute in the fog and the rains.
What used to be men were now called remains.
Oh, God, it was never enough!

mg

HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 27-Feb-01

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Aug 00 - 09:35 AM

Unbelievable.

Mary that is truly powerful song........Knowing something of you from your posts here, I know it comes from deep within....but even if I knew nothing of you, I would still say the same. Very powerful words that evoke the real tragedy of the time....and for you, in a very personal way. But its more than that.

You and I, and indeed everyone, has a differing view on those times. But one thing is true......they had a profound effect on our lives. I dislike the songs that condemn or affix blame or any of the other politically motivated things that many express. I won't do them. But the songs of the people and the suffering, sacrifice, and pain.......those are worth singing.....because that is the sad legacy.

Right now, other words escape me. Yours is the best song I have seen written here at Mudcat. Yeah, it scans and all of that, but I can think of none that come from so deep in the heart and have the honesty and truth shining through more than yours. Thank you Mary.......thank you.

Spaw

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Groucho Marxist (inactive)
Date: 30 Aug 00 - 09:43 AM

For Mary Garvey:

"If I Were Free" was written by Travis Edmonson, not Phil Ochs.

Groucho

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Raptor
Date: 31 Aug 00 - 09:28 AM

Did anyone say EVE OF DESTRUTION ? I can't read.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: mg
Date: 31 Aug 00 - 11:04 AM

thanks...also Cobra 7 by Toby Hughes and Pull Pitch by Cliff McKeithan..

mg

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: HARD LUCK SKONK
Date: 31 Aug 00 - 09:38 PM

I'VE HAD SOME GOOD RESPONCES FROM VETS AFTER SINGING 'EARLEY MORNING RAIN' AND 'LEAVING ON A JET PLANE.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 31 Aug 00 - 11:31 PM

Fionn - yes, you spelled it right. Thanks for the tribute.

Brendy - "I'm sure it was a difficult time for the Vietnamese also." Damn straight! Best comment I've seen yet. As a Canadian, living in New York State during that era, it never ceased to amaze me how little concern there was for the hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of Asians who suffered and died in that war, and saw their countries ravaged by high tech weaponry. I never heard one other person in Skaneateles, New York express concern over that, except for my mother.

I did know some boys who went to Vietnam. Two of them came back with an interesting story about the Tet offensive. They were both stationed in the huge airbase at Da Nang. They told me that every serviceman they knew had a Vietnamese servant (usually a young woman) to do his laundry, shine his shoes, and whatever...I leave it to your imagination. These were young people from the city of Da Nang, trying to eke out a living. On the morning of Tet, none of the servants showed up. Everybody was cursing, "Where the f*ck is that girl?", and then the rockets started coming in and blowing up helicopters on the airstrip, and the whole place went nuts. They said it was not long after that that they realized they had no business in that country. Some others didn't come back. Too bad. They were pawns in a game not of their own making...but if more of them had said "no" the dirty game could have been ended a whole lot sooner...which is the point of "Universal Soldier".

My favourite songs from that era...

The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol Visions of Johanna My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying - Buffy S.M. It's All Right, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) Gates of Eden Mr. Tambourine Man It's My Way - Buffy Sainte-Marie It's All Over Now, Baby Blue It Ain't Me, Babe Love Minus Zero (No Limit) Just Like A Woman Boots Of Spanish Leather Catch The Wind If Today Was Not An Endless Highway Farewell Angelina It's A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall Season Of The Witch Like A Rolling Stone Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues The End - the Doors Get Offa My Cloud As Tears Go By I Pity The Poor Immigrant All Along The Watchtower St. Augustine Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again Pack Up Your Sorrows - Richard Farina Masters of War Blowin' In The Wind

and probably a hundred and fifty others...

I remember.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From:
Date: 01 Sep 00 - 11:11 PM

John prine also write "The Great Compromise" and "Sam Stone", albeit both after the end of the war--and Johnny Cash's "Man in Black" most definitely refers to Viet Nam. Cash, right or wrong, was, to the best of my knowledge, the only country artist to openly state his opposition to our presence in Viet Nam.

Bill.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 01 Sep 00 - 11:14 PM

Johnny Cash is a great, great man.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: WyoWoman
Date: 02 Sep 00 - 12:29 AM

Mary, that was terrific. I'd love to hear you sing it.

ww

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: BlueJay
Date: 02 Sep 00 - 02:48 AM

Stewie- Same thing happened to me: I thought this was a new thread, and was thinking about posting when I discovered I'd already posted in February. I didn't look at the dates. Thanks for letting me know the true songwriter of "Agent Orange", which I'd assumed was Kate Wolf's. Just goes to show you- you can still learn something new here, even seven months after you originally post to a thread! Thanks, BlueJay

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: canoer
Date: 03 Sep 00 - 10:47 AM

Mary Garvey! Just by luck I re-opened this thread. I feel that your song stands with the best. Many thanks! -- Riverman

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: oldhippie
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 08:17 PM

Oh, wow, I wish someone would record it, very powerful song, Mary.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs? ***PG 13
From: GUEST,Owlkat
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 10:56 PM

Cher y'all,
One song that has always stuck in my head is sung by Ed Van Ronk and was recorded in the 60's on Folkways (I think, don't quote me on that) It sounds like something Patrick Sky might have written, but again, I have no documentation.

I listened to it on a borrowed record about 35 years ago, and it has been with me ever since, but please forgive me if the words have gotten a little gibbled over the years. So have I, for that matter.
PG 13 warning!! Warning !! Warning !! Warning!! Danger Will Robinson!!

The language is kind of rough, but then again, so was Dave. The times were angry and confused, and not everyone used the poetry of Buffy Ste. Marie, Phil Ochs, or Peter Paul and Mary to express their horror, outrage, and grief...

Luang Prabang
When I got back from Luang Prabang
I didn't have a thing where my balls used to hang
But I got a fancy medal and a long harangue
And now I'm a fuckin' hero

CH:
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero follow me
Mourn your dead, land of the free
If you want to be a hero follow me

Amid the cannon's bloody thunder
Tearing the air and the ground asunder
For a patriotic ball-less wonder
Now I'm a fuckin' hero.

And now the boys all envy me
I fought for Christian Democracy
With nothing but air where my balls used to be
And now I'm a fuckin' hero

In Luang Prabang there is a spot
Where the corpses of your brothers rot
And everyone is a patriot
And everyone is a hero

Thank you,
Owlkat

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: copperhead
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 11:18 PM

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
I was in IVX Corps in the WAC ... got out in 1966...

It is NOT a folksong, but I remember when "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" could bring a bar full of otherwise gruff and tough airborne troops to silence and sometimes tears...

Also "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay ... watchin tha tiiiide ro-holll awaaaay"... '

Loved Joe Mcdonald as well ... "Come on ALLLL'a you BIG STRONG MEN.."

And Leonard Cohen's "Stranger Song" and "Story of Isaac" and Suzanne :

"It's true that all the men you knew were dealers who said
they were through with dealing every time you gave them shelter.
I know that kind of man, it's hard to hold the hand of anyone
Who's reaching for the sky just to surrender,
who is reaching for the sky just to surrender."

"You know I'm strong and holy,
...I will do what I've been told...."

"and you know that she's half crazy,
...but that's why you want to be there...

And of course the chorus of the Corps Anthem:

"Pallas Athena, Goddess of Vic-to-ry.
History tells your sto-ry brave...
And our own Statue of Liberty,
Shows what we've sworn to save..."

And the wonderfully acid and obcene marching cadences...

And the Unofficial anthem of the Airborne:

"Around her leg, she wore a yellow garter,
she wore it in the Spring time, in th early Month of May...
and When We asked her why in hell she wore it...
"I wear it for my trooper who is far, far awayaaaayyyy!"

Which actually
is music hall song that dates from at least just after the Civil War because it was also a Cavalry song from the horse soldier era...

And the adaptation of the old cowboy song that was another Animal Farm (The Big Red One) favorite:
"There was blood on the risers, and blood on the ground,
and great big puddles of blood, all around. That poor boy lay in it
all covered with gore, a trooper who'll never go jumpin no more."

And as I think of it, an authentic folk song,
"There is one kind favor I'll ask of you...
There is one kind favor I'll ask of you...
There is one kind favor, an I ask it now of yo-ou...
Won't you see that my grave is kept clean?


   My goodness. I've been thinking about people I haven't seen in 40 years ... I AM older than dirt! LOL
    copperhead

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: GUEST,D. Bechdel
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 04:27 AM

Go to Vietnam era music 60's, 70's site by Chu65nang67 -- he has a lot of playlists with like 16 pages of songs. One of my favorites is the 50,000 Names on the Wall.

The website is made up to honor the Viet Nam veterans ---- enjoy !!!

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:10 PM

satisfaction or sympathy for the devil by the rolling stones, all along the watch tower by jimi hendrix, really anything from apocolypse now, the vietnam part of forrest gump, or even full metal jacket (despite kubricks attempt at irony and sarcasm when making the soundtrack)

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: GUEST,tyler
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:12 PM

mechanical man by Charles Manson. it really depicts how he sees the people who were soldiers by decision

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: eddie1
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 03:11 AM

Grey October - Peggy Seeger & Jack Warshaw.

Bring Em Home - Pete Seeger. Written way back then and still just as relevant today!
Eddie

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 08:27 AM

Bear-Family has issued a 13CD set of Viet Nam related material:
Next Stop Viet Nam - Bear Family

and there are other smaller collections:
http://www.bear-family.de/index.php?sid=08bd4a868effc4774b173348d6a9b4ca&cl=tcnewextsearch&tcexact=0&tcinterpret=&tcalbumtitel=viet+nam&tcsong=&tcartnum=

Best wishes, Thomas.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Richie Black (misused acct, bad email)
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 08:47 AM

Joe McDonald and the Fish.

Subject: RE: What are the best Vietnam era songs?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 08:53 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelin%27_Soldier