Songs About Vietnam War Part II

Subject: Lyr/Chords Add: HELPLESSLY HOPING (CS&N)
From: GUEST,Pavel From Russia
Date: 28 Feb 10 - 08:52 AM

Hi all!
That's me again.
Another one VN era song.
"Helplessly Hoping" by Crosby, Stills & Nash.
From their first Album "C,S & N", 1969.

INTRO:Am7 C G D


Am
Helplessly hoping,
    C                   G
Her harlequin hovers nearby.
G          D    Am            
Awaiting a word, gasping at glimpses
   C                      G
of gentle true spirit, he runs,
G                D
wishing he could fly,
       Am7               C       G   D
only to trip at the sound of good-bye.


Am
Wordlessly watching,
   C                         G
he waits by the window and wonders,
                   D
at the empty place inside.
Am                     C
Heartlessly helping himself to her
               G
bad dreams, he worries..
                   D       Am7 C    G
Did he hear a good-bye, or even hel..lo?

CHORUS:

Am/G
They are one person, they are two alone.
                                     Dm/F C
They are three together, they are for each other.



Am                            C
Stand by the stairway, you'll see something
                G                      D
certain to tell you, confusion has its cost.
Am                     C                      G
Love isn't lying..it's loose in a lady who lingers
             D       Am7            C    G
saying.. she is lost and choking on hel..lo.


CHORUS:
Am/G
They are one person, they are two alone.
                                     Dm/F C    G
They are three together, they are for each other.

Subject: RE: Songs About Vietnam Part II
From: GUEST,Scott
Date: 17 Apr 22 - 04:07 PM

Here’s is a VIMEO video to honor Vietnam veterans. I put it together over the last few years - with a few songs definitely included because of things I researched and learned on this forum. I hope the video speaks for itself as a thank you to to our Vietnam veterans as well as a thank you to those who served and participated in this forum over the years that I stumbled upon way too late…

https://vimeo.com/623760179

It contains pictures, 8mm video and 18 songs that do ALL the heavy lifting here in telling their remarkable story. Some songs extremely well known and quite a few I learned about here. There’s quite a bit of music about this remarkable time of social and political upheaval in our country that I’d love to use - but I frankly ran out of content and am seeking more pictures from families and the veterans of H Troop I continue to meet. Much love to my father in law and all the members of his unit - H Troop - 17th Cav. that is the center of this piece. Welcome home.

Thank you to all here who have relatives or friends who served our country and maybe even continue to serve. It’s emotional stuff I cannot imagine and as a result, I have left it to the artists and their music I chose to help tell about it.

- Scott

Subject: RE: Songs About Vietnam War Part II
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Apr 22 - 05:20 AM

Kieran Wade has a song called "Trail of Tears from Vietnam" on his album "The Gotchy".
You can check it out at www.kieranwade.bandcamp.com

Subject: RE: Songs About Vietnam War Part II
From: Stringsinger
Date: 20 Apr 22 - 07:03 PM

This iconic song sums it up pretty well. As you know it was banned from the Smothers Brothers TV show. It's about the Vietnam War as an allegory. The big fool was undoubtably LBJ. The reference to "Nervous Nellie" was used in those times as pejorative to those who opposed war by I think Spiro Agnew, (I could be wrong about this). Pete, himself, served in the army in Special Services as a performer in WWII. He captures the futility that has come to identify the US in any of the wars that it waged. There's a subtle reference to the enlisted man as coming from a lower economic status then that of his so-called superiors.

"The general got the Croix de Guerre
The sonava bitch was never there...hinky dinky par le vous"

I personally never criticized anyone who served because every man has a right to follow his conscience in a democracy whether I agree with him or not.

Many enlisted came from ghettos, underserved communities and found comradeship and escape from miserable living conditions. As we see today, things will get worse economically
and more unsuspecting men will become pawns in other wars except that a war with Russia may be the last war mankind ever faces.

"I'd sing out danger, I'd sing out a warning"

Waist Deep In the Big Muddy. (Vietnam War, the big muddy)
It was back in nineteen forty-two
I was a member of a good platoon
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna
One night by the light of the moon
The captain told us to ford a river
That's how it all begun
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy
But the big fool said to push on


The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push onut


The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging
We'll soon be on dry ground."
And the big fool said to push on


The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on

All at once, the moon clouded over
We heard a gurgling cry
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone

We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on
Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on

Subject: RE: Songs About Vietnam War Part II
From: GUEST,mustermark
Date: 01 May 22 - 06:25 PM

Had to add one of my favorites from the time. Dave Van Ronk's "Romping Through The Swamp." URL follows. I first heard this about three years after my Dad returned from his one year tour for the Air Force building the radar station on Monkey Mountain, several miles north of Danang. It was a great favorite of snipers and got him his second Air Force Commendation Medal award (at least the bullet missed him by a few inches, have slides of him pointing at the hole and Westmoreland dropping by.) They also had a great view of the real "China Beach" as they coined it where they used to occasionally swim, when they were able to get a Huey for shark patrol.
He also did a year over N Korea as bombardier in a B-29 and was an original member of the 36th Artillery Regiment, the third most decorated regiment in all of WW II. He was a loader in the Mutzig Castle direct fire incident. I only learned about the Korea and World War II part starting 10 years after he passed. He was one of those heroes who never spoke about it and perhaps, unfortunately, never realized it.
Bless all of those unsung heroes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8jZM5Lpnxg

Subject: RE: Songs About Vietnam War Part II
From: Lighter
Date: 01 May 22 - 07:20 PM

"The Big Muddy" wasn't banned from the Smothers Brothers Show.

Quite the opposite. The Smothers Brothers were cancelled (in the old-fashioned sense) soon after they allowed Pete Seeger to sing the song on the air.

Subject: RE: Songs About Vietnam War Part II
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 02 May 22 - 02:51 PM

English singer Allan Taylor; I wrote "The Morning lies Heavy" when my brother in law (I married into an American family) was due to be drafted. This was during the Vietnam war, although, as the Vietnam war is not mentioned in the song, whichever war it is is immaterial - the point is that any young man may experience such feelings before joining his unit, in any war situation.

Morning Lies Heavy

Subject: RE: Songs About Vietnam War Part II
From: voyager
Date: 02 May 22 - 07:21 PM

Stringsinger (Frank) got it right.

Sidebar here -

In 1969 I organized a Moratorium walkout of our Santa Monica HS class
in opposition to the Vietnam War (tragedy). We assembled at McArthur Park (cake is melting in the rain) in Los Angeles and listened to Country Joe McDonald (and the Fish) performing anti-war songs. Paramount here is 'Fixing to Die Rag' (1-2-3-4 what are we fighting for).... fast forward from 1969 to mid'90s and my son is doing a paper for 'Black History Month'. I point him to Kid Ory (Louis Armstrong Hot Five combo) and I buy a used Kid Ory record featuring Muskrat Ramble (among others). This turns out to be the tune that Country Joe lifted for his anti-Vietnam anthem. CJ was later sued in court for copyright infringement but won his case. I got a note from Country Joe explaining the ins and outs of this controversy. Anti-war songs are where you find them.

My next antiwar tune might be Vlad Ras-Putin - go f* yourself.

voyager