Cold War Songs?: Hank Williams Jnr et al.

One from the other side of the aisle. Certainly not the most exciting poetry, but it sold a lot of records.

Ballad of the Green Beret
by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler and Robin Moore, copyright 1966

Fighting soldiers from the sky
Fearless men who jump and die
Men who mean just what they say
The brave men of the Green Beret

Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret

Trained to live off nature's land
Trained in combat, hand-to-hand
Men who fight by night and day
Courage peak from the Green Berets

Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret

Back at home a young wife waits
Her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her his last request

Put silver wings on my son's chest
Make him one of America's best
He'll be a man they'll test one day
Have him win the Green Beret.

 

Vietnam produced a lot of songs reflecting on the experience of black Americans. Here's Joe Tex's 'I Believe I'm Gonna Make It':

When I got your letter, baby,
I was in a foxhole on my knees (Oh yes I was)
And your letter brought me so much treat
I raised up and got me two more enemy (Oh yes I did)

That's why I believe I'm gonna make it
Tell everybody back home that I believe I'm gonna make it
And baby I'll be home before you can say 'Jackie Robinson'.

Sometimes I wonder if you really love me
Then I think of something sweet you once said to me
And the thought makes me feel so good inside
I raise up and get me two more enemy

Listen, baby, oh baby, I wished 1000 times
That we'd gotten married before I left home for Vietnam
But then when I see so many of my buddies gettin' shot down all around me
Makes me kinda glad that we waited
'Cos I don't wanna leave you at home bein' a widow (no)
Now I know you understand, baby.

Listen, darlin', they promised me a furlough on the 15th of next month
And I want you to say a prayer tonight that my furlough'll come thro'
So I can come home to be with you - and tomorrow (oh, tomorrow)
Go by and tell my mum and daddy that I love 'em
And they don't have to worry 'bout me

'Cos I believe I'm gonna make it
And baby I'll be home
Before you can say 'Batman and Robin' (yeah...)

That one's on the CD 'A Soldier's Sad Story - Vietnam Through The Eyes of Black America 1966-73'. Some other titles on the album:

Greetings (This is Uncle Sam) - The Monitors
Going to Vietnam - Big Amos
Christmas in Vietnam - Johnny & Jon
I Can't Write Left Handed - Bill Withers
Stop The War Now - Edwin Starr
Bring The Boys Home - Freda Payne
A Letter From Vietnam - Emmanuel Lasky
P.O.W. - M.I.A. - The Whispers

 

"Ballad of the Green Beret
by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler and Robin Moore, copyright 1966 "
Wow,I love that tune jeff,I used to own it on a 7inch single....wasnt to keen on the B side though...My name is william calley Im a soldier of this land......to the tune of My eyes have seen the glory..

 

I remember that song, but just barely. Was that the original B-side of the Ballad of Green Berets?

 

I dont think so,It may have been a european re pressing from the early 1970s.

 

Billboard Top Pop Singles lists the original 1966 B-side as 'A Letter From Vietnam':

Oh lord I'm tired and sad
and I want you oh so bad
I've been away so very long
now I want to go home.
So remember that I love you
that, my dear is true
just say a prayer for your man."
This letter's post-marked 'Vietnam'
"Last night we had a fire fight
machine guns firing tracers through the night
and as we fought,
my thoughts, they turned to you
and I knew, somehow, darling I'll come thrgouh
I've fought in many places
and I've seen war's thousand faces
but after this, my wars are through
and I'll-I'll come home to you
Even thought I'm far away
I'll think of you each day
I'll come home when I can"
This letter's post-marked 'Vietnam'

'The Battle Hymn of William Calley' was a 1971 country hit by C Company featuring Terry Nelson. Did Sadler also record this?

 

I may be getting a little confuzzed in my dotage,your 30s do that Im told ,I know I owned both tracks on single and also that both have long since disapeared during one or another house move ( well,the frown for green berrets,the other was purely oddity value)
OMG,Ive just read the lyrics,thats holocaust denial level cr*p wrapped up in the stars and bars.......

 

wrapped up in the stars and bars.......


I don't understand this. Stars & Bars must have a different meaning there than it does here.
Here in the US, the Stars and Bars is the first flag of the Confederate States of America.

This one.

 

I think he might mean the Stars and Stripes!!!

 

Which song CW? Post it here as I'm confused on which one you mean.

This is the one we were talking about, Owen. Is that the one you meant, CW?

"Battle Hymn of William Calley" (C Company feat. Terry Nelson)

Once upon a time there was a little boy who wanted to grow up
And be a soldier and serve his country in whatever way he could
He would parade around the house with a sauce pan on his head
For a helmet, a wooden sword in one hand and the American flag in the other
As he grew up, he put away the things of a child but he never let go of the flag

My name is William Calley, I'm a soldier of this land
I've tried to do my duty and to gain the upper hand
But they've made me out a villain they have stamped me with a brand
As we go marching on

I'm just another soldier from the shores of U.S.A.
Forgotten on a battle field then thousand miles away
While life goes on as usual from New York to Santa Fe
As we go marching on

I've seen my buddies ambushed on the left and on the right
And their youthful bodies riddled by the bullets of the night
Where all the rules are broken and the only law is might
As we go marching on

While we're fighting in the jungles they were marching in the street
While we're dying in the rice fields they were helping our defeat
While we're facing V.C. bullets they were sounding a retreat
As we go marching on

With our sweat we took the bunkers, with our tears we took the plain
With our blood we took the mountains and they gave it back again
Still all of us are soldiers, we're too busy to complain
As we go marching on

When I reach my final campground in that land beyond the sun
And the great commander asks me, "Did you fight or did you run?"
I'll stand both straight and tall stripped of medals, rank and gun
And this is what I'll say:

Sir, I followed all my orders and I did the best I could
It's hard to judge the enemy and hard to tell the good
Yet there's not a man among us would not have understood

We took the jungle village exactly like they said
We responded to their rifle fire with everything we had
And when the smoke had cleared away a hundred souls lay dead

Sir, the soldier that's alive is the only once can fight
There's no other way to wage a war when the only one in sight
That you're sure is not a VC is your buddy on your right

When all the wars are over and the battle's finally won
Count me only as a soldier who never left his gun
With the right to serve my country as the only prize I've won
As we go marching on
Glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah


Jim

 

Heres the lyrics from a protest song of the 60's

Eve Of Destruction By Barry McGuire, 1965


The eastern world it tis explodin',
violence flarin', bullets loadin',
you're old enough to kill but not for votin',
you don't believe in war, what's that gun you're totin',
and even the Jordan river has bodies floatin',
but you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Don't you understand, what I'm trying to say?
Can't you see the fear that I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away,
There'll be noone to save with the world in a grave,
take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy,
but you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin',
I'm sittin' here, just contemplatin',
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation,
handful of Senators don't pass legislation,
and marches alone can't bring integration,
when human respect is disintegratin',
this whole crazy world is just too frustratin',
and you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
Think of all the hate there is in Red China!
Tehn take a look around to Selma, Alabama!
Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space,
but when your eturn, it's the same old place,
the poundin' of the drums, th pride and disgrace,
you can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace,
hate your next-door-neighbour, but don't forget to say grace,
and you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

 

oops,did I say stars and bars?Sorry,my bad,I did mean of course the stars and stripes
anyway,I think my meaning was clear,what they did on that day is little short of what the ss did in countless eastern european villages in the war,hiding it in a patriotic song doesnt make it anyless of a crime. Saying that "they did their duty" or were only following orders is quite,imo,chilling.

 

Lets not forget Lily Marlene. It was a German song adopted by the Allies.Today it is sung in many different languages

Marlene Dietrich - Lili Marlene Lyrics

Complimentary "Lili Marlene" Ringtone

Underneath the lantern by the barrack gate
Darling I remember the way you used to wait
Twas there that you whispered tenderly
That you loved me
You'd always be
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

Time would come for roll call
Time for us to part
Darling I'd caress you and press you to my heart
And there 'neath that far off lantern light
I'd hold you tight
We'd kiss good-night
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

Orders came for sailing somewhere over there
All confined to barracks was more than I could bear
I knew you were waiting in the street
I heard your feet
But could not meet
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

Resting in a billet just behind the line
Even tho' we're parted your lips are close to mine
You wait where that lantern softly gleams
Your sweet face seems to haunt my dreams
My Lili of the lamplight
My own Lili Marlene

When we are marching in the mud and cold,
And when my pack seems more than I can hold
My love for you renews my might
I'm warm again
My pack is light
It's you Lili Marlene
It's you Lili Marlene