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Joel Billy - Goodnight Saigon Lyrics

Artist: Joel Billy

Album: Nylon Curtain

Genre: Rock

Joel Billy
Nylon Curtain
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 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
We said we'd 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


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  • Anonymous

    In 1993, when I was 16, I used to listen to this cd while I did my house chores. I remember singing along with the catchy chorus for this song. But being a teen I never paid attention to anything but the chorus. Then one day I was bored out of my mind, at home alone and played it again. And the meaning hit me. I cried. This song just pulls me in and I can imagine how horrible it was for all those boys and girls that were there. We've all heard the facts, but no one that has been there ever really wants to talk about the actual experience. I understand why. There just simply aren't any words to descibe what they've been through. The things they have seen. Or it's too hard to talk about.
    This song really put Vietnam into perspective for me. I haven't listened to this song in almost 15 years until this morning. I woke up way too early. My husband turned on the tv which is unusual since he can't sleep with it on. He turned on an 80's video show . One Duran Duran video played and then this video. I never even knew there was a video. It still has the same effect on me. Chills and tears.
    To all our vets of any era and all the currently enlisted - I thank you from the bottom of my heart. And to Billy Joel for helping a young girl learn that the world did not revolve around her and that freedom is not cheap. It comes at the cost of many lives.

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