Collections › PTSD Songs

PTSD Songs

98 songs · chronological · A–Z by artist
Annotations and notes by Justin A. Brummer
Entries are numbered (#1, #2 …) for reference on this page; the numbers shift when entries are added or split.
A collection of songs and spoken-word recordings about the psychological aftermath of the Vietnam War for veterans: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), flashbacks and nightmares
This forms part of the larger Vietnam War Song Project, an interpretive examination of over 6,500 Vietnam War songs identified, revealing how the war's significance is represented through music. The project also collects spoken-word recordings about the conflict. This unique collection of voices advances scholarship by providing insights into people’s views about the war over time as represented in music, looking at diverse communities and vibrant music scenes. It is crucial in developing our knowledge of the war and the humanities, through the use of a digital research platform.
Note: The VWSP has identified, to date, 95+ songs about the psychological aftermath of the war for veterans: PTSD, flashbacks and nightmares.
Citation: Justin A. Brummer, Vietnam War Song Project (VWSP) — PTSD Songs, vietnamwarsongproject.com/list/ptsd-songs, accessed 12 November 2026

Context

Beyond PTSD and Vet, the songs in this collection most often also deal with: Military, Soldier's Perspective, Mistreatment of Vet, Anti-War.
From the early 1970s, psychiatrists working with Vietnam veterans, among them Chaim Shatan and Robert Jay Lifton, described a "post-Vietnam syndrome": flashbacks, nightmares, numbness, anger and guilt that could surface years after a soldier came home. Campaigning by veterans and their doctors led the American Psychiatric Association to recognise Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) in 1980. A year earlier, Congress had set up the Vet Centers to offer readjustment counselling.

The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, commissioned by Congress, estimated in 1988 that around 15 per cent of male Vietnam theatre veterans then had PTSD, and around 30 per cent had had it at some point since the war. Popular culture also turned the traumatised veteran into a stereotype, the "crazed vet" of films and television, which many veterans resented.

Time Period & Criteria

The usual criteria for songs released during the key war years (1964-1975) are those mentioning Vietnam, or whose lyrics deal with war-related themes. For this collection, the song deals with the psychological aftermath of the war for those who served: PTSD named or described, flashbacks, nightmares, the war that "isn't over", and its effect on veterans' families. The time period runs from the war years to the present, and includes veterans of other countries, especially Australia.

Highlights

The VWSP has identified 95+ songs about the psychological aftermath of the war. Almost all date from after 1980, when PTSD was named, and the largest group comes from the 1980s, as veterans found a public voice. The Charlie Daniels Band's "Still in Saigon" (1982), about a veteran who cannot leave the war behind, reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. In Australia, Redgum's "I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)" (1983) reached number one and became the country's best-known song about the war, re-recorded many times since. Other key records include John Prine's "Saigon" (1979), Bruce Springsteen's "Shut Out the Light" (1984), Poison's "Something to Believe In" (1990) and Wu-Tang Clan's "A Better Tomorrow" (1997), alongside many records made by veterans themselves, such as Bill McKenna, Bobby Ross and Sarge Lintecum.

1968-1979: The War and Its Return

During and soon after the war, a handful of records described soldiers coming home changed: Bucky Wilkin's "Delta Day" (1968), Bull Durham's "DaNang Lullaby" (1971) and John Prine's "Saigon" (1979).
  • 6 May 1972: Psychiatrist Chaim Shatan describes "post-Vietnam syndrome" in the New York Times
  • 1973: Robert Jay Lifton publishes Home From the War, based on rap groups with veterans
  • 1979: Congress establishes the Vet Centers' readjustment counselling programme

1968

#1 Bucky Wilkin Delta Day (No Time to Cry) 1968 · Single · Delta Day (No Time to Cry) / I Wanna Be Free · RCA Victor # 47-9492 · USA
Notes
Delta Day (No Time to Cry) (Wilkin, Bucky)

Psychedelic folk rock, soldier's perspective, combat sound-effects, protest, anti-war
Men waking to hear helicopters, hold on boy, don't lose your mind
Making a man of me - see the eyes of the enemy
God protect us, victims of games people play
Notes
RCA Victor 47-9492 (WPKM-1880), yellow "Plug Side – Not for Sale" label; "Delta Day (No Time to Cry)" (Wilkin, Kristofferson, Wilkin), 3:16, Buckhorn Music Pub. Inc., BMI; producer Bucky Wilkin. Housed in an RCA Victor company sleeve with the "His Master's Voice" dog-and-gramophone logo (21-107-1-1). [From the record sleeve and labels]

1971

#2 Arlene Harden Congratulations (You Sure Made A Man Out Of Him) 1971 · Single · Congratulations (You Sure Made a Man Out of Him) / Sing Me Some Sunshine · Columbia # 4-45420 · USA
Notes
Congratulations (You Sure Made a Man Out of Him) (Harden, Arlene) (Columbia Records # 4-45420)

Country-pop. Impact of war on soldier, PTSD. Title leans toward anti-war.
Notes
Member of The Harden Trio, The Hardens Columbia 4-45420 (ZSS 154274), stereo, 45 RPM, red label with repeated "Columbia" pattern, "Printed in U.S.A."; "Congratulations (You Sure Made A Man Out Of Him)" (I. Garman – C. Hoffman – J. Barr), intro :04, 3:58; arranged by Bill McElhiney, produced by Frank Jones. [From the record sleeve and labels]
#3 Bull Durham DaNang Lullaby 1971 · Album · Songs of S.E.A. · Donham # UP 105 · USA
Annotation
Notes
catalogue songs

Military, in-country.
Recorded 1970
1
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Donham Records UP-105 (labels UP-105A / UP-105B), stereo, yellow labels, "Produced by U.P.C. Recording", "All selections BMI".

Side One: The Inventory 4:23, Jolly Green 2:44, Mighty Dust Off 1:57, Dear Ma'am 2:07, I Fly the Line 2:40, Crack Went the Rifle 3:57; Side Two: Da Nang Lullaby 2:52, Saigon Girls 2:17, Puff 3:26, Tchepone 4:04, Republics Ultra Hog 2:27, The Devil Clapped His Hands 3:05.

The front cover, "Bull Durham's Songs of S.E.A. – Twelve of the best songs to come out of South East Asia", has a bamboo frame, a colour photograph of Durham in a patched flight suit with an acoustic guitar, and a cartoon bull playing a guitar under palm trees; this copy is signed "Bull Durham" in marker. [From the record sleeve and labels]
#4 Gene Stridel What Do You Win When You Win a War 1971 · Single · What Do You Win When You Win a War / Pax · Mercede # JM 3002 · USA
Annotation
Gene Stridel released the anti-war song "What Do You Win When You Win a War" (Mercede Records # JM 3002). He featured in the New York-based 1940s group The Striders (under the name "Eugene Strider").1 He died in 1973. The label, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida took its name from its building: The Mercede Building, 2727 East Oakland Park Boulevard. The label also released the Vietnam-P.O.W. song I Promise I'll Wait by Nancy. The lyrics presented war as futile and harmful to society, whether a success or not: "you win nothing! The winners lose, for there's nothing to win except death and destruction" . The narrator particularly singled out the negative impact of war on the soldiers and veterans - an early interpretation of their readjustment to civilian life and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ( "the shell shocked...boys who...lost their mind" ), themes usually found in post-war songs. Also note the reference to P.O.W.s: "do you think of the cost? Do our prisoner's of war and all that they've lost?" . Co-composed by Al Jacobs, who wrote the 1940 (Second World War) patriotic folk song "This Is My Country", and Gerry Granahan (who also produced). Arranged by Arnold Goland.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Mercede JM 3002, white label with palm-tree motif, The Mercede Building, Fort Lauderdale, Sunny Florida, U.S.A.; "What Do You Win When You Win a War", written by Al Jacobs, author of "This Is My Country", and Gerry Granahan, author of "Click Clack", 3:35, Mercede Power of Music (ASCAP), © 1971 Doc Whipple Music Corp. (ASCAP); produced by G. Granahan, arranged by Arnold Goland. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
What do you win when you win a war?
How do you celebrate?
Do you count the homes that were bombed...
And coffin and graves that they filled
Do you count tears that were spilled by the mother's of the boys that were killed
And each mother thinking - my boy, nine months of anticipation and pain and twenty years of hope all gone with one telegram
'Dear Mrs. Doe, we regret to inform you that your son John'...
Do you shout hooray for the lame and the blind, or for all the limbs that were left behind?
Do you say, lets hear it for the shell shocked boys who won a battle but lost their mind?
Then ship home with a medal and then look for a job which is hard to find
Or do you say lets give a big hand for the boys trying to get back into the civilian game...
Do you think of the misery?
Do you think of the cost?
Do our prisoner's of war and all that they've lost?
Do you think of the orphans who've lost all they have on the that one night?...
Do you think of your buddy...who sleeps beneath a cross in some foreign soil?
Or do you think of the moments of shelling a town and then from a hilltop you watch it burn down?...
What do you win, you win nothing
The winners lose, for there's nothing to win except death and destruction and hunger for homeless children
Oh please dear god show us how to live in peace
And love with our fellow man and let us have war no more/ And never again will a mother read a telegram
Show full lyrics (22 lines) ▾

1973

#5 Holly Near Better Days 1973 · Album · Hang in There · Redwood # RRS 3800 · USA
Annotation
Holly Near, prominent 60s/70s political contemporary folksinger / singer-songwriter, born 6 June 1949 in Ukiah, California, USA, and founder of the record label Redwood Records. Near released dozens of protest songs, focusing on war, Civil Rights, women's equality, human rights, ecology, and other social and cultural issues. This album, Hang in There primarily focused on the Vietnam War. Holly Near had frequently taken part in anti-war demonstrations, and in 1971 joined the FTA Tour ("Free the Army"), an anti-Vietnam War roadshow. Organised by Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, and Fred Gardner, it was seen as a response to Bob Hope's USO tour (On the Road to Vietnam). The footage resulted in the 1972 film F.T.A. [Fuck the Army], as well as featuring in the 2005 documentary Sir! No Sir!123 Also note that Near released the song "It Could Have Been Me" on the 1974 album "A Live Album" (Redwood Records # 3700), a response to the Kent State shooting. The song "No More Genocide" (Redwood Records # RRS 3800) took a strong anti-war position, questioning the death in Vietnam, and the purpose behind the war: "why do we say North and South?" . The narrator argued that "our history books so full of lies" - referencing Indigenous American and Hispanic history: "why the Indian dies, or why the Chicanos love the California land" . The song included a reference to Civil Rights / African-American discrimination in army recruitment: "why are so many of our soldiers black or brown?" . It also noted that it was the young that were sent to war by the old. It then addressed Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, recalling "two men from the world of secrecy" (of course Ellsberg, and his less famous colleague, Anthony Russo from RAND who helped smuggled the papers). The narrator noted "I read the Pentagon Papers, seeking truth in their history" , including a look at the US government objective in South Vietnam: "preserving a democracy" . The chorus, repeated at the end of the song, states "that's just a lie... no more genocide in my name" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

1974

#6 George Jones The Door 1974 · Single · The Door / Wean Me · Epic # 8-50038 · USA
Notes
The Door I've heard the sound of my dear old mama crying / And the sound of the train that took me off to war / The awful sound of a thousand bombs exploding / And I wondered if I could take it anymore / There were times when they almost drove me crazy / But I did my best and took it like a man / And who would think in my lonely room I'd hear it / The one sound in the world my heart can't stand / To hear that sound and to know its really over / Through tear stained eyes I watched her walk away / And of earthquakes, storms and guns and war / Lord, nothing has ever hurt me more than that lonely [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]
Genre: ♪ Country

1975

#7 Mike Thomas My Man, I Love Him So 1975 · Single · Ohio's the One / My Man, I Love Him So · Tin Pan Alley # TPA 80-711 · USA
Notes
- "My Man, I Love Him So"

- Label: Tin Pan Alley # TPA 80-711
- Songwriter: Ruth Isaacs

- Traditional pop
- Veteran, PTSD
- What happened when he came home from the war
- Mind wonders, he doesn't know she is there
- Help him forget the war he has left behind

- Tin Pan Alley Records, Tin Pan Alley, Inc., Sarasota, Florida 33578, TPA 80-711B, light-blue label; "My Man, I Love Him So" (Ruth Isaacs), Juke Box Alley, ASCAP; Mike Thomas. The label carries a rubber-stamped date "Jul 31 1975". [From the record sleeve and labels]

1979

#8 John Prine Saigon 1979 · Album · Pink Cadillac · Asylum # 6.00E-222 · USA
Themes: Vet PTSD

1980-1989: PTSD Named

The decade of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the return of the war to films and television produced the largest group of songs, from country and rock to punk and hardcore. Veterans recorded their own songs about flashbacks, alcohol and the war that would not end.
  • 1980: PTSD recognised in the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-III
  • 13 November 1982: Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in Washington, D.C.
  • 1988: The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study reports its findings to Congress

1980

#9 AK-47 The Badge Means You Suck 1980 · Single · The Badge Means You Suck · Pineapple # VRRNP-864-865 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock formed in 1979 in Houston, Texas, USA. Members included: Tim Phlegm (vocals), Harry Leverette [aka Raton Pi], Stewart Cannon [aka Neutron Stu] (guitar), Jim Crane [aka James Allstar] (bass), Sleepy (drums). The song "The Badge Means You Suck" is about police violence against minorities, and in this case, the true story of African-American Vietnam veteran, Milton Gover, killed by 8 shots, on 21 March 1976.123 The song started with the veteran back home "black man just back from Nam" . He went jogging at night to "calm his nerves" - possible a reference to PTSD - which "to a cop is a nigger crook" . So they shot him dead.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
A black man just back from Nam
People thought he was a little bit odd
Jogged at night to calm his nerves
Always talking about god
Well a black man running in the evening
To a cop is a nigger crook
They had two loaded revolvers
Milton had just one book
But he didn't had a chance to convert them
Cause they wouldn't take a second look
It took 8 shots to stop Milton Glover
And his goddamn holy book

1981

#10 Chris Noel Forgotten Man 1981 · EP · Tom & Jerry # SC-08261 · USA
Notes
Post-war 80s, country pop. Tribute to Vietnam veterans
Reference to Agent Orange, PTSD, mistreatment of vets, and the draft
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs

1982

#11 Bolland & Bolland The Dogs of War 1982 · Album · The Domino Theory · Lark # INL-3618 · Sweden
Annotation
The Domino Theory (CBS # CBS 85742), a synth-pop concept album which took an anti-war position, included several references to the Vietnam War. Bolland, also known as Bolland & Bolland featured the two brothers Ferdi Bolland and Rob Bolland who originally came from South Africa, but based their career in the Netherlands. The most famous song on the album, "You're in the Army Now" , is discussed immediately below. The song "Heart of Darkness" captured the tone of the album, presenting the despair of war: "I was afraid to face the day, nothing could take my fear away...my fate's no longer in my hands" . The title of the song came from the Joseph Conrad book Heart of Darkness (about a British ivory trader sailing down the Congo River in Central Africa). Francis Ford Coppola also took inspiration from this book for his 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. The song "Dogs of War" , narrated in the first person, provided the perspective of a soldier fighting in the jungle. The soldier already displayed signs of psychological stress: "night is filled with shadows...it all seems a nightmare...I'm going insane" - this followed in-line with the 1980s trend of portraying veterans / soldiers as suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Lark INL-3618, credited on the front cover to "Bolland"; the cover photograph shows a queue at an airport check-in desk, led by a man holding a United States passport and a copy of The Wall Street Journal, with a soldier in camouflage and face paint among the travellers and a Royal Air Force Yearbook 1981 on the counter; the back cover continues the queue scene.

Back cover: "Composed, arranged and produced by Rob Bolland & Ferdi Bolland", distribution Inelco, "© ℗ 1981", trademarks used under control of FFR Productions, marketed in The Netherlands by Inelco Records and Tapes bv, Aalsmeer, printed in The Netherlands; "Qcumber controlled" logo.

Side one: Ouverture / You're in the Army Now / The Dogs of War / Heart of Darkness / Cambodia Moon; side two: Heaven Can Wait / To the Battleground / Long Day's Journey into the Night / Let's Help A*R*Vi*N Out / Rendez-Vous with Radiation / Finale. The printed lyric insert carries full-face portraits of the two brothers and full lyrics, with credits: words and music by Rob Bolland and Ferdi Bolland; all songs published by Nada Music, Holland; recorded at Wisseloord Studios, Holland; engineers Ronald Prent and Jan-Fred Arendsen; executive producer Frits Hirschland; vocals, marimba, piano, spinet and celesta by Rob and Ferdi Bolland; synthesizers and keyboards Johan Timman; drums and percussion Ton Op 't Hof; guitars Johan Slager; bass guitar Jan Hollestelle and Okkie Huysdens; art direction and photography Govert de Roos and Ollie Sassen. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Being out in the jungle trying hard to survive
Listen to the deadly silence, I'd really like to stay alive
Tonight we'll cross the river, we're waiting for the things to come
My only consolation is that I'm not the only one
The dogs of war, the dogs of war strike again...and again
The night is filled with shadows towering over my head
Uncle Sam gave the orders, can't remember what he said
Now it all seems a nightmare, think that I'm going insane
No way I can face tomorrow, no way to ease the pain
#12 Bolland & Bolland Heaven Can Wait 1982 · Album · The Domino Theory · Lark # INL-3618 · Sweden
Annotation
The Domino Theory (CBS # CBS 85742), a synth-pop concept album which took an anti-war position, included several references to the Vietnam War. Bolland, also known as Bolland & Bolland featured the two brothers Ferdi Bolland and Rob Bolland who originally came from South Africa, but based their career in the Netherlands. The most famous song on the album, "You're in the Army Now" , is discussed immediately below. The song "Heart of Darkness" captured the tone of the album, presenting the despair of war: "I was afraid to face the day, nothing could take my fear away...my fate's no longer in my hands" . The title of the song came from the Joseph Conrad book Heart of Darkness (about a British ivory trader sailing down the Congo River in Central Africa). Francis Ford Coppola also took inspiration from this book for his 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now. The song "Dogs of War" , narrated in the first person, provided the perspective of a soldier fighting in the jungle. The soldier already displayed signs of psychological stress: "night is filled with shadows...it all seems a nightmare...I'm going insane" - this followed in-line with the 1980s trend of portraying veterans / soldiers as suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Lark INL-3618, credited on the front cover to "Bolland"; the cover photograph shows a queue at an airport check-in desk, led by a man holding a United States passport and a copy of The Wall Street Journal, with a soldier in camouflage and face paint among the travellers and a Royal Air Force Yearbook 1981 on the counter; the back cover continues the queue scene.

Back cover: "Composed, arranged and produced by Rob Bolland & Ferdi Bolland", distribution Inelco, "© ℗ 1981", trademarks used under control of FFR Productions, marketed in The Netherlands by Inelco Records and Tapes bv, Aalsmeer, printed in The Netherlands; "Qcumber controlled" logo.

Side one: Ouverture / You're in the Army Now / The Dogs of War / Heart of Darkness / Cambodia Moon; side two: Heaven Can Wait / To the Battleground / Long Day's Journey into the Night / Let's Help A*R*Vi*N Out / Rendez-Vous with Radiation / Finale. The printed lyric insert carries full-face portraits of the two brothers and full lyrics, with credits: words and music by Rob Bolland and Ferdi Bolland; all songs published by Nada Music, Holland; recorded at Wisseloord Studios, Holland; engineers Ronald Prent and Jan-Fred Arendsen; executive producer Frits Hirschland; vocals, marimba, piano, spinet and celesta by Rob and Ferdi Bolland; synthesizers and keyboards Johan Timman; drums and percussion Ton Op 't Hof; guitars Johan Slager; bass guitar Jan Hollestelle and Okkie Huysdens; art direction and photography Govert de Roos and Ollie Sassen. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Being out in the jungle trying hard to survive
Listen to the deadly silence, I'd really like to stay alive
Tonight we'll cross the river, we're waiting for the things to come
My only consolation is that I'm not the only one
The dogs of war, the dogs of war strike again...and again
The night is filled with shadows towering over my head
Uncle Sam gave the orders, can't remember what he said
Now it all seems a nightmare, think that I'm going insane
No way I can face tomorrow, no way to ease the pain
#13 Festival feat. Britt Small Still in Saigon 1982 · Single · The Wall / Still in Saigon · Max Stout # 42164 · USA
Credited on the record as Festival featuring Britt Small on vocal.
Annotation
This is a double-sided Vietnam War pop rock single released in the post-war period, performed by Vietnam veterans. Both songs dealt with the legacy, memory, and impact of the Vietnam War. The a-side song "The Wall" (Max Stout Records # 42164) referred to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The lead vocalist, Britt Small, served as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in South Vietnam in 1970 according to the back of the picture sleeve. He was awarded a Purple Heart and the Army Commendation Medal. The sleeve also said that: "Festival appeared at the National Salute to the Vietnam Veterans in Washington, D.C., in November 1982, where they sang at the Vietnam Memorial and performed a concert at the base of the Washington Monument". The narrator started by describing a "crying mother" visiting the Wall because her son "was ten years gone" , killed in a "place called Vietnam" . She then wanted to walk along the Wall paying her respects to all those that died. The narrator concluded by saying that the monument displayed that the nation "really care about the ones who fought and died" . The b-side was a cover of The Charlie Daniels Band song "Still in Saigon" which looked at the impact of the war on veterans, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Released in Skidmore, Missouri, USA.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Max Stout (42164), white labels; A: "The Wall" (Zoerb, Roth, Small), Max Stout Music, BMI, 3:25; B: "Still in Saigon" (Daley), Dreena Music and Dan Daley Music, BMI, 3:40; Festival featuring Britt Small on vocal.

The picture sleeve front is a drawing of an American flag and a rose before a wall repeating "The Wall", captioned "A Salute to the Vietnam Veterans — by Festival".

The back gives the writers in full (Lyle Zoerb, Ray Roth, Britt Small; Dan Daley), the full lyric of "The Wall", and notes that Britt Small served as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in South Vietnam in 1970, where he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Army Commendation Medal, and that Festival appeared at the National Salute to the Vietnam Veterans in Washington, D.C., in November 1982, singing at the Vietnam Memorial and giving a concert at the base of the Washington Monument.

Band line-up: Britt Small (lead vocal, bandleader), Mark Reinig (drums), Becky Reinig (keyboards), Ray Roth, Jr. (bass), Stan Funston and Dann Hohn (guitar), Don Struve and Les Wetzel (trumpet), Russ Wetzel (trombone), Curt Pottratz (tenor sax), John Hafner (bari sax), with "Taps" by Don Struve; produced by Britt Small; front cover design by Phillip Van Voorst; "Max Stout Records, A Division of Festival Family Enterprises, Ltd."

The sleeve is signed in ink by Britt Small. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
In this place of honor, to what is best of man
I found a crying mother with flowers in her hand
She said that she was there because her son was ten years gone
Another life that was not spared, a place called Vietnam
She turned to me and said young man, please take me in your arms and walk with me on past the Wall
I want to see them all, a special place this is to me
But its taken them so long, to say his life was not in vein
A place called Vietnam
The monument here shows me that the nation has some pride
To say they really care about the ones who fought and died
So you can stand here with me and hold me while I cry
The price we pay for freedom son hurts me deep inside
The price we pay for freedom son is the highest price of all
The price we pay for freedom son, is written on the Wall
Show full lyrics (15 lines) ▾
#14 The Charlie Daniels Band Still in Saigon 1982 · Single · Still in Saigon / Blowing Along with the Wind · Epic # 14-02828 · USA
Annotation
As discussed above, the 1980s saw a revival of interest in the Vietnam War, both in song, films, and literature. The country rock track "Still in Saigon" (Epic Records # 14-02828), composed by Dan Daley, one of the most popular and well-known of the songs which fitted into this trend, looked at the impact of the war on a Vietnam veteran. It dealt with several interesting issues, in particular two familiar features of the post-war song: (a) the attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome" - in this case, the perception that veterans may have felt guilt or shame about the war, influenced by the domestic climate they returned to in the US.1Ronald Reagan spoke about this on 18 August 1980: "for too long, we have lived with the Vietnam Syndrome...We dishonor the memory of 50,000 young Americans who died...They deserve our gratitude, our respect, and our continuing concern".2 Many war films of the period fitted into this climate of trying to overcome the Vietnam Syndrome, such First Blood [Rambo] (1982), Uncommon Valor (1983), and Missing in Action (1984). (b) It looked at the negative impact of the war on veterans through Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Bruce Springsteen took a similar approach in the 1984 song "Born in the U.S.A.", discussed below.

Narrated in the first person, Daniels started the story with a boy drafted to Vietnam. He chose not to avoid the draft: "could have gone to Canada...could have stayed in school" . But he did not want to break the rules, and "I was brought up differently" - an interesting point, this is often found in the war-time patriotic / pro-government songs, in which the narrators claimed that those who avoided the draft did not do their duty. It then told of the difficulties out in Vietnam. Then the soldier returned home, suffering from PTSD, in which certain smells, sounds, and temperatures reminded him of the war: "every summer when it rains I smell the jungle, I hear the planes...I am still in Saigon in my mind" . People he encountered, including his family, viewed him differently, depending on their political and cultural beliefs: "my younger brother calls me a killer and my daddy calls me a vet" . This all had a negative impact on the veteran: "I feel ashamed" . Therefore, this song dealt with the veterans difficulty in re-adjusting to American society, their relationships with friends and family, and the psychological impact of the war.

On 1 May 1982, Billboard reported that: "Songwriter Dan Daley...discusses his current Charles Daniel Band cut, 'Still in Saigon', with Robert Muller, executive director of the Vietnam Veterans of America. Daley is donating part of the song's royalties to the organization".3 In a New York Times interview, published on 21 April 1982, Daley said that the song "grew out of my being a war-movie buff. But I was draft-age when Vietnam was going on, though fortunately I wasn't drafted, and I grew up at the dinner table with the TV on". As well as Charlie Daniels, he offered the song to Bruce Springsteen: "the two rock performers who have been most vocal in their support of the Vietnam Veterans of America". But Springsteen only recorded his own material.4 The song reached # 22 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and # 2 in the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. It featured on the 1982 album Windows (Epic # FE 37694). Produced by John Boylan.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Epic 14-02828 (ZSS 168959), stereo, 45 RPM, dark blue label, ℗ 1982 CBS Inc.; "Still in Saigon" (D. Daley), intro :31, 3:50, taken from the Epic LP "Windows" FE 37694; produced by John Boylan for Sir Charles Productions. Issued in a light-blue Epic company sleeve ("'Epic' is a trademark of CBS Inc./Marca Reg."). [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Got on a plane in 'Frisco and got off in Vietnam
I walked into a different world, the past forever gone
I could have gone to Canada, or I could have stayed in school
But I was brought up differently, I couldn't break the rules
Thirteen months and fifteen days, the last ones were the worst
One minute I'd kneel down and pray and the next I'd stand and curse
No place to run to, where I did not feel that war
When I got home I stayed alone and checked behind each door
Cuz I'm still in Saigon, still in Saigon, I am still in Saigon in my mind
The ground at home was covered in snow and I was covered in sweat
My younger brother calls me a killer and my daddy calls me a vet
Everybody says I'm someone else and I'm sick and there's no cure
Damned if I know who I am there was only one place I was sure...
Every summer when it rains I smell the jungle, I hear the planes
I can't tell no one, I feel ashamed afraid some day I'll go insane
That's been ten long years ago and time has gone on by
Now and then I catch myself eyes searching through the sky
All the sounds of long ago will be forever in my head
Mingled with the wounded cries and the silence of the dead
Show full lyrics (20 lines) ▾
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs
#15 The Fartz Viet-Vet 1982 · Album · World Full of Hate... · Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 17 · USA
Annotation
This hardcore punk band formed in Seattle, WA, USA in 1981. The original line-up featured Blaine Cook (vocals), Steve Fart (bass), Tommy Hansen (guitar), Loud Fart (drums), Paul Solger (guitar). The group often tackled political subjects, especially involving criticisms of Ronald Reagan. Their first album included the song "Viet-Vet" (Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 17) which looked at the treatment of Vietnam veterans. The narrator started with the story of young man drafted by the US government: "just seventeen...they sent you off to Vietnam" . Wounded, he returned home, where the government and people forgot about him. He suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): "dreams of war in your head" . It ended on a contemporary note, warning that American leaders sought destruction elsewhere.The album also featured the song "Hero's (Cum Home in Boxes)" , which took a general anti-war position: "in a war there are no winners" . It did not mention Vietnam, but questioned people who worshiped the idea that going to war and dying for your country created heroes.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Sent you off into the battle field, it was no dream those shells were real
Shells explode as you screamed in pain, the loss of a leg for a government gain
Just seventeen, barely a man, they sent you off to Vietnam
With no regard for your future plans, you paid the price of Uncle Sam
Gave you a medal and a pat on the back, did they make you a hero
See how quickly they forget, the pitiful crippled Viet-Vet
You've joined the ranks of the living dead, with dreams of war in your head
War has ended but not the suffering...and now a nation lies in wait
While our leaders choose our fate, destruction it seems is the American way
#16 John Coster The War Isn't Over 1982 · Single · The War Isn't Over / Straight Sailor · Sky [Williamsburg] · USA
Annotation
Notes
War Isn't Over, The (Coster, John)

Pop rock, 1980s post-war.
Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD - both sides.
Back of picture sleeve said that "partial proceeds of the sale of this recording donated to the Pioneer Valley Vietnam Veterans, Inc."1
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Sky Records, P.O. Box 180, Williamsburg, Mass. 01096; "The War Isn't Over", John Coster, 4:52, ℗ 1982 John Coster.

Picture sleeve front: photograph of a small boy in a helmet and camouflage "Special Forces" fatigues holding a toy gun in undergrowth. Back: photograph of Coster with a twelve-string guitar; "The War Isn't Over" © 1982 John Coster, Over The Hill Music, B.M.I. - John Coster (vocals, electric guitar), Rick King (electric guitar), Ray Mason (bass), Dave Kida (drums), Sandy Sayers and Maryjo Cosgrove (vocals); "Straight Sailor" © 1981 - Coster, King, Bill Walach (electric mandolin), Arthur Toole (bass), Billy Klock (drums), Sandy Sayers (vocals); produced by John Coster and Maureen O'Brien, engineered by Premarthi at The Schoolhouse; photography John Marcy, cover photo courtesy of Joshua Harris, artwork Karen Burgess.

"Partial proceeds of the sale of this recording donated to the Pioneer Valley Vietnam Veterans, Inc." [From the record sleeve and labels]
Themes: Vet PTSD

1983

#17 Tommy Cash Forgotten Man 1983 · Single · Audiograph # AG-45-801 · USA
Notes
Forgotten Man (Cash, Tommy)

Post-war 80s, pop rock.
Tribute to soldiers drafted to Vietnam.
War ended after the Paris Peace Accords.
Returned home - no parades and celebration - country divided.
Reference to agent orange and PTSD
Notes
Audiograph AG-45-801, Side A, marked "Promo – Not For Sale" and "Special Rush: Re-Service"; "Forgotten Man" (Paul T. Morris), Sawgrass (BMI), time 3:17; produced by Mike Daniel and Stan Cornelius; © 1983 Indigo Music, ℗ 1983 Southampton Music. "Record Label Distributed by IMC Indigo Music Corporation"; white label with the script Audiograph logo. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs
#18 Redgum I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) 1983 · Single · I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) / Yarralumla Wine · Epic # ES 844 · Australia
Annotation
The track "I Was Only 19" (Epic Records # ES 844) reached # 1 in the Australian singles chart (Kent Music Report), one of the most successful Australian Vietnam War songs. It dealt with the negative impact of war on the soldier. Written by John Schumann, born 18 May 1953 in Adelaide, Australia, leader singer of Redgum, formed in 1975, Adelaide, and disbanded in 1990. Other member included on this record were: Hugh McDonald (violin, vocals), Brian Czempinski (drums), Trevor Lucas (backing vocals), and Peter Coughlin (bass guitar).1.

John Schumann based it largely on the experiences of the Vietnam war veteran Mick Storen (his brother-in-law). Schumann noted as a teenager in the late 1960s his friends being drafted to fight the war: "They left as wide-eyed, grinning Australian lads, pushing and shoving and joking at their embarkation leave parties. They were returned to us as damaged goods - sullen, disconnected and with the trade-mark thousand yard stare". He soon developed an anti-war perspective in the early 1970s: "the popular movement against the Vietnam war gained traction. It wasn’t too long before a clear majority of Australians, including me, opposed it". But not into the late 1970s and early 1980s did attention grow to the plight of the veterans. At which point, Schumann said that "I entertained the idea of writing these blokes a song".2 The royalties of the song go to the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia. The group also recorded a live version on the 1983 album Caught in the Act (Epic # ES 864).

Narrated in the first person, it started with a young, innocent nineteen year old taking part in a military march in Australia, just before being shipped to Vietnam, and then "in and out of choppers" across the land, where "each step could mean your last one on two legs" . This seemed a long way from the stories of the previous generations, who fought in the First and Second World Wars: "the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood" . So after the war, back in Australia, the veteran started to suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), unable to sleep, thinking of the dark jungles and "barking M16... I can still hear... screaming in the jungle" . He also recalled drinking with his friend Frankie at the Grand Hotel in Vung Tau, a seaside city in South Vietnam during R&R, before being shot and killed in the jungle. There was also a reference to the use of Agent Orange: "Agent Orange sunset through the scrub" - the herbicide used by the US government, which had long-term negative health affects, an issue that gained more attention in the 1980s.

Other references to note: the line "parade at Puckapunyal... we did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left" - Puckapunyal is a training facility in Victoria, Canungra is a small town in Queensland, with a large military base, while Shoalwater is a bay, also in Queensland, a major military training area during Vietnam. The line "there's me in me slouch hat with me SLR" . A slouch hat, also known as Aussie bush hat is a distinctive Australian hat that has one side of the brim turned up or pinned to the side of the hat, often used in the military.3SLR was the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle, used by Australian forces in Vietnam.4 The line "from Vung Tau to the dust at Nui Dat" - Nui Dat was where the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was based in South Vietnam, and Vung Tai was where the 1st Australian Logistics Support Group was headquartered, and popular for R&R.

This song provided an important representation of the loss of innocence for a nineteen year old, whose life changed because of the war. It brought attention to the plight of the Australian Vietnam veteran.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Produced by Trevor Lucas; Redgum Music; matrix MX202514. The label notes that artist royalties were donated to the Vietnam Veterans of Australia. Epic ES 844, side A, 45 R.P.M., blue label, ℗ 1983 CBS Records Australia Limited; marked "Australian Performance – Australian Composition"; "Sound recording made by CBS Records Australia Limited — first published ℗ in Australia 1983"; "Made in Australia". [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets
The sixth battalion was the next to tour and it was me who drew the card
We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean
And there's me in me slouch hat with me SLR and greens
God help me - I was only nineteen
From Vung Tau riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months
And we made our tents a home, V.B. and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And night time's just a jungle dark and a barking M.16?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me - I was only nineteen
A four week operation, when each step can mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself
But you wouldn't let your mates down 'til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about somethin' else
And then someone yelled out "Contact", and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar
And Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon
God help me - he was goin' home in June
And I can still see Frankie, drinkin' tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec. leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
'Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row
And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me, I was only 19
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
Any why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me - I was only 19
Show full lyrics (37 lines) ▾
#19 The Red Rippers Over the Edge 1983 · Album · Over There ... and Over Here · Oracle # 308075 · USA
Annotation
Notes
All songs on album
Military - veteran
Written and recorded by Navy pilot Ed Bankston
Pensacola, Florida, USA.1

A1 I Roll (Red Rippers, The)
A2 Soldier of Fortune
A3 Firefight
A4 Who Remembers
A5 Vietnam Blues
B1 The Dark and Bloody Road
B2 She’s Been Down
B3 Body Bag
B4 Over the Edge
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
#20 London Cowboys Saigon 1983 · Single · Hook Line & Sinker / Saigon · Underdog # 13117 · UK
Annotation
Glam Punk group formed (1980) and disbanded (1986) in London, UK, lead by vocalist & guitarist Steve Dior. The song "Saigon" (Underdog # 13117) started with helicopter sound-effects. This one seems to be about a Vietnam veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "I'm...frustrated, animated, agitated... my mind is blown and battered...Saigon" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Underdog 13117 (13117/2), 45 T, SACEM/SDRM, Carrere Distribution, made in France; label ℗ 1982 Underdog, sleeve ℗ & © 1983 Underdog Records; Side A "Hook Line & Sinker" (S. Dior), 3'25; Side B "Saïgon" (Steve Dior), 4'44, produced by The Peculiar Bros., "An Original Double D Records Recording"; from the LP "Animal Pleasure" no. 67.933, stereophonic; sleeve code CA 171.

The front sleeve has a blue-green blurred image with the band name in gothic letters; the back reproduces the "Animal Pleasure" album cover. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
I'm running in that race the leads to nowhere
My jeans are torn and dirty
And I'm down here on my knees
And I don't know who it is I got to please
Every time I make a move I think it's pretty good, I'm leaving all the rest behind
Saigon
Somebody comes along, says son you got it wrong again
Well I'm not asking for your tea or sympathy
But at least you could just throw me a line
I'm a frustrated, animated, agitated, complicated, dominated
I'm so deep down in the shit
I'm really saturated
And I'm telling you, I'm a regular guy
Saigon
I'm moving in one direction...
Wound up where I started, which is nowhere
My mind is blown and battered
I'm a cold rat to the bone
My eyes keep standing death blank at the walls
Saigon
Rats coming, now the rats coming...what am I gonna do
My jeans are torn and dirty....
Show full lyrics (23 lines) ▾
Themes: PTSD Vet
#21 Jerry's Kids Vietnam Syndrome 1983 · Album · Is This My World? · XClaim! # X-6 · USA
Annotation
Jerry's Kids - a Hardcore Punk band formed in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1981. The group originally featured Bryan Jones (vocals), Rick Jones (bass, vocals), Bob Cenci (lead guitar), Dave Aronson (rhythm guitar), and Brian Betzger (drums).1 The song "Vietnam Syndrome" (XClaim! Records # X-6) painted a picture of a crazy Vietnam veteran, suffering from PTSD, that posed a threat to the people around him: "he's after me, we're not American, we're VC" . The lyrics criticised society's treatment of the veteran, suggesting that people, or the government "just want him out of sight" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Ten years back from Vietnam, he gave his mind to Uncle Sam
He thought he had control of his life, but he went demented
And grabbed a knife, lodged deep inside his head
Visions of war, visions of dead, his pencil becomes a bayonet
You tried to help but the fire's set
Now he's after you
And he's after me, we're not American, we're VC
So thanks very much for his kick in the face
He's not alright, he's in outer space
Just give him a shot
He'll be alright, man, you just want him out of sight
Also in: ▤ Punk Songs
#22 Circle One Vietnam Vets 1983 · Album · Patterns of Force · Upstart # UP 001 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group, formed in 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA. Members imcluded: John Macias (vocals), Michael Vallejo (guitar), Mike Ituarte (bass), Bill Ituarte (drums), Danny Dorman (bass), Jody "D.J." Hill (drums), Omar (vocals), and Nick Manning (drums). The song "Vietnam Vets" (Upstart Records # UP 001) of course looked at the experience of the Vietnam veteran, which included familiar lines about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "Flashbacks, jitters another nightmare" . It noted that the vets did not receive a heroes welcome, with parades etc, as seen after World War Two, and often noted in songs: "came back with no glory... a war the people want to forget" . The song criticised the US and Russia for being imperialistic: "the U.S. and Russia are almost the same, leaders of the imperialist game" . The song also made reference to "gook" - a racist, derogatory name for the Vietnamese, used by US soldiers during the Vietnam War, and often featured in cultural representations, such as in films and songs.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
They told us to fight for our country
But came back with no glory
Instead a ringing in our heads
Or blinded, paralyzed, maimed, or dead
V.V. syndrome doesn't stop there
Flashbacks, jitters another nightmare
A war the people want to forget
Will it happen again that's a sure bet
So send in the first wave lose eighty percent
Don't worry doc will fill the tent
We have plenty of young men to fill up the ground
Underclass jobless we don't want around
So listen you whore do me in good
I might die tomorrow so I'll fuck when I could
No rules, no more, kill to survive
Women and children are all gonna die
Sniper patrol kill anything in sight
Flame throwers hot and burning bright
Choppers in the air lay on the ground
Snipers in bushed don't make a sound
I got my trusty rile I'm gonna unload
I got my avocado its gonna explode
Gooks, dinks, and commies I'm a gunning for you
Just like the song "bombs bursting in air"
Only I wish I wasn't there
Was I so lucky to watch friends die
Too tired and scared no time to cry
"Buts" and "Ifs" in my head
How come I'm not left for dead
Animal instincts came over me
I had no control you can't blame me
The U.S. and Russia are almost the same
Leaders of the imperialist game
Fighting for land, health and power
Armageddon getting closer by the hour
Vietnam vets you did your time
Convicted of a rich man's crime
But what happened to you will happen to us
Us we don't get together and raise a fuss
Show full lyrics (40 lines) ▾
Also in: ▤ Punk Songs
#23 G.B.H. Vietnamese Blues 1983 · Album · City Baby's Revenge · Clay [Stoke] # CLAY LP8 · UK
Annotation
Charged G.B.H., a UK82 group, a sub-genre of Hardcore Punk, with added heavy drum beats and distorted guitar sounds. Members included: Colin Abrahall (vocals), Colin Blyth (guitar), Andrew Williams (drums, 1978-86), and Ross Lomas (bass, 1978-present). Formed in 1978, in Birmingham, West Midlands, UK.

The song "Vietnamese Blues" (Clay Records # CLAY LP8) looked at the perspective of a veteran who "just got back from Vietnam" . This song referenced several issue often found in post-war songs about veterans. Firstly, it dealt with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "My minds gone it's just not there" . Secondly, there is a possible reference to a disabled war veteran: "I got blown to bits by a bomb... I'm really only half a man" . Thirdly, it looked at the struggle of the returning veteran: "My wife's left...I got no money" . Also note the reference to the veteran receiving a medal: "I fought hard for my Purple Heart" - awarded by the US president to those wounded or KIA, an estimated 351,794 were awarded during the Vietnam War. Additionally, the song referenced the use of napalm: "I got addicted to napalm" - chemical weapon Napalm B - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973.123
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Well I just got back from Vietnam
Where I saw a baby in a pram
The next minute it wasn't there
I was getting paid too much to care
Now I fought hard for my Purple Heart
I can stop you if you start
Going out now on the loose
Gotta get rid of these Vietname Blues
Well I just got back from Vietnam
I got addicted to napalm
My teeth have rotted, they're just not there
I was getting paid too much to care
Well I just got back from Vietnam
I got blown to bits by a bomb
My minds gone it's just not there
I was getting paid too much to care
Well I just got back from Vietnam
Although I'm really only half a man
My wife's left, divorce coming through
I got no money what can I do?
Show full lyrics (21 lines) ▾
#24 Casey Vietnam (No More Wars) 1983 · Album · Casey · Unreel # 07243 8 31900 41 · USA
Annotation

Heavy Metal band Casey, which featured the members Scott [Stoney] Woodward (bass), Hardly Normal (drums), J. Carmen Dabella (guitar), Rick [Buwanna] Hopkins (vocals), only released one album, recorded in Binghamton, New York, USA. The song "Vietnam - No More Wars" (Unreel Records) focused on the impact of the war on a US Vietnam War veteran. It started out with the familiar helicopter sound-effects often heard in post-war songs, and Vietnam War films, followed by a crying baby. It contained various scenarios of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - "the bad times that made you sweat... still makes you cry" - also frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event. The lyrics also address the mistreatment of Vietnam veterans, returning home, and not receiving a heroes welcome, having fought an unpopular war: "left the airport, no family or friends, you're a vet of a war nobody was winning" .

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Unreel Records, 14 Ritchie Rd., Binghamton, NY; track A4. [From Discogs]
Lyrics
English
A few years have passed and the war is gone
We know you tried
We still never stayed
You start your new life, but never in control...
You're right back there, ready to pray
Remember the bad times that made you sweat
The chance you took to live or die...
Stare at death... still makes you cry
No more war, none at all...
Now everything was pain, kill and hate
No more childhood feelings
Just smoke your dope now and don't be late
To kill Charlie while he's feeling
The commies know when the end is near
Your going home for a new beginning
You left the airport, no family or friends
You're a vet of a war nobody was winning
No more war, none at all...
Show full lyrics (19 lines) ▾
Themes: Vet PTSD
Also in: ▤ Metal Songs

1984

#25 John Williamson Only 19 1984 · Album · The Smell of Gum Leaves · Gum Leaf # L-38245 · Australia
Notes
Live cover of the Redgum song, recorded at the Vicar of Wakefield Bush Bar, Dural, NSW, 28 April 1984; Gum Leaf / Festival. Reissued on CD as Home Among the Gum Trees (EMI, 1997).
#26 Bruce Springsteen Shut Out the Light 1984 · Single · Born in the U.S.A. / Shut Out the Light · Columbia # 38-04680 · USA
Annotation
The B-side song "Shut Out the Light" is also about the Vietnam War, but often overlooked, sitting next to the famous A-side. This track tells the story of a Vietnam veteran, who had just returned home: "on his porch they stretched a banner that said Johnny Welcome Home" . But he suffered from PTSD.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Columbia 38-04680, B-side of "Born in the U.S.A.", 3:45, written by B. Springsteen; released October 1984; not on the Born in the U.S.A. album. [From Discogs]

Picture sleeve: cover photo Annie Leibovitz; art direction and design Andrea Klein. The back prints the lyrics of "Born in the U.S.A." and notes that "Shut Out the Light" does not appear on the Born in the U.S.A. album. A-side label: Stereo 4:39, taken from the Columbia LP QC 38653; produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin and Steve Van Zandt; recorded by Toby Scott; mixed by Bob Clearmountain. [From the record sleeve and label]
Lyrics
English
The runway rushed up at him as he felt the wheels touch down
He stood out on the blacktop and took a taxi into town
He got out down on main street and went into a local bar
He bought a drink and found a seat in a corner in the dark
Well she called up her mama to make sure the kids were out of the house
She checked herself out in the dining room mirror
And undid an extra button on her blouse
He felt her lying next to him, the clock said four a.m.
He was staring at the ceiling
He couldn't move his hands
Oh mama mama mama come quick
I've got the shakes and I'm gonna be sick
Throw your arms around me in the cold dark night
Hey now mama don't shut out the light
Well on his porch they stretched a banner that said "Johnny welcome home"
Bobby pulled his Ford out of the garage and they polished up the chrome
His mama said "Johnny oh Johnny, I'm so glad to have you back with me"
His pa said he was sure they'd give him his job back down at the factory
Mama mama mama come quick
I've got the shakes and I'm gonna be sick
Throw your arms around me in the cold dark night
Hey now mama don't shut out the light
Well deep in a dark forest, a forest filled with rain
Beyond a stretch of Maryland pines there's a river without a name
In the cold black water now Johnson Leneir stands
He stares across the lights of the city and dreams of where he's been
Oh mama mama mama come quick
I've got the shakes and I'm gonna be sick
Throw your arms around me in the cold dark night
Hey now mama don't shut out the light
Don't you shut out the light
Show full lyrics (32 lines) ▾
Themes: Vet PTSD

1985

#27 Stev Manteiv Hot L.Z. (Thorazine Shuffle) 1985 · Album · Ambush · SM # 1 · USA
Annotation
Album of Vietnam War songs, many dealing with post-war issues, such as the mistreatment of vets, the Vietnam Syndrome, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the effects of Agent Orange, the use of napalm and combat conditions, including P.O.W.s / M.I.A., and of course, the memorial wall in D.C., dealt with in the song "Brian" (SM-001). The band name "Stev Mantiev" is actually "Vietnam Vets" reversed. Released in Detroit, Michigan, USA, the main vocalist was Bill House, who released a bunch of albums in the late 70s.1 The album also featured Detroit-born Rob Tyner (a formed member of MC5), Vietnam vet Johnny Maxwell, Drew Abbott (a guitarist with Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band), and Marcus Belgrave.234 This song was strongly critical of the US government, calling the war "a politician's lie" , with the narrator saying that "my country you can't apologies, so face up to the truth" . Dedicated to the narrator's friend Brian, who was in Vietnam, but is now on the Wall in D.C.. The back of the record sleeve said the following:
Notes
Ambush is a reflection of our feelings of having faced the ultimate test, survival. Unlike a lot of music today, these songs speak for themselves with an intensity and urgency that compel you to listen, to think about what really happened, is still happening, and could just possible happen to you. We are all Vietnam Veterans. We all fought the war; in the jungles, in the streets, and on stage. Since that time, we have grown in knowledge and experience. So much so that we come together as peaceful warriors, as STEV, to bring you Ambush. The songs on this album are more than a collection of words and music. They are the real living emotions that were copyrighted with the blood that was shed to write them. We pull no punches, we leave no memory untouched. These songs are not about the War. They are how we, the Vets of Stev, feel. They are what has been inside us for years.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Genre: ♪ Pop
#28 Stev Manteiv Survival 1985 · Album · Ambush · SM # 1 · USA
Annotation
Album of Vietnam War songs, many dealing with post-war issues, such as the mistreatment of vets, the Vietnam Syndrome, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the effects of Agent Orange, the use of napalm and combat conditions, including P.O.W.s / M.I.A., and of course, the memorial wall in D.C., dealt with in the song "Brian" (SM-001). The band name "Stev Mantiev" is actually "Vietnam Vets" reversed. Released in Detroit, Michigan, USA, the main vocalist was Bill House, who released a bunch of albums in the late 70s.1 The album also featured Detroit-born Rob Tyner (a formed member of MC5), Vietnam vet Johnny Maxwell, Drew Abbott (a guitarist with Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band), and Marcus Belgrave.234 This song was strongly critical of the US government, calling the war "a politician's lie" , with the narrator saying that "my country you can't apologies, so face up to the truth" . Dedicated to the narrator's friend Brian, who was in Vietnam, but is now on the Wall in D.C.. The back of the record sleeve said the following:
Notes
Ambush is a reflection of our feelings of having faced the ultimate test, survival. Unlike a lot of music today, these songs speak for themselves with an intensity and urgency that compel you to listen, to think about what really happened, is still happening, and could just possible happen to you. We are all Vietnam Veterans. We all fought the war; in the jungles, in the streets, and on stage. Since that time, we have grown in knowledge and experience. So much so that we come together as peaceful warriors, as STEV, to bring you Ambush. The songs on this album are more than a collection of words and music. They are the real living emotions that were copyrighted with the blood that was shed to write them. We pull no punches, we leave no memory untouched. These songs are not about the War. They are how we, the Vets of Stev, feel. They are what has been inside us for years.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Genre: ♪ Pop
#29 V.N.V. On Holy Ground 1985 · Single · SOS Records # SOS-1454 · USA
Notes
On Holy Ground (V.N.V.) Post-war, pop rock / synth, veteran's perspective, PTSD. Helicopter / war sound effects/ Strung out, no where to hide, nobody understands what I'm going through since Vietnam. Wasted lives, but no shame, they are heroes. Reference to John Wayne [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]

1986

#30 Courage At Vietnam 1986 · EP · Gold and Ivory · D&S Recording # D&S 002 · Germany
Annotation
Heavy Metal group formed in Hattigen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, in the 1980s, with the members Sven Strzyso (vocals), Andreas Sieling (guitar), Manfred David (guitar), Uwe Dinsing (bass), Holger Feist (drums). The song "At Vietnam" (D&S Recording # DS 002) leans more into the Hard Rock genre, tooking an anti-war perspective, firstly focused on the combat scene and the deaths: "at Vietnam, were a million people died" . The narrator then looked at the impact on the veteran: "late at night he remembers all those things" - a reference to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event. The lyrics also noted "napalm bombs were dropped" - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973.123
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
He's starting over man
He's fighting at Vietnam
He's doing what he can, yeah
Like John, we're stop this war
At Vietnam were a million people died
At Vietnam, children bombed...
We tried to live in peace...
Can't take this bullshit anymore
At Vietnam, where a million people died...
No, no, no...
Late at night he remembers all those things
Napalm bombs were dropped...
Feeling vanished in the race
My life is too precious...
Yesterday is gone, and we're living for today
All the ladies wore black... tears at burials
Combat troops captured lands, and they still can't get enough
Shameful injustice...
Widows are crying, it's a kick into my face...
Show full lyrics (20 lines) ▾
#31–38 Bill McKenna Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am 1986 · Album · FPOSF # 1102108 · USA
4 of the 9 songs from this album in the archive are in this collection
Annotation
He released this Vietnam-themed LP in the rock-pop genre in 1986, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The title song "Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am" (FPOSF # 1102108) looked at a Vietnam veterans attempt to find his place in society - which had labelled Vietnam a failure and a mistake. It can be viewed as part of a 1980s, Reagan-era trend of nationalism, or attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome". Narrated in the first person, the veteran said that originally he did not want to go to Vietnam, but the experience and memories had helped to define him. But when he returned he "found the country in flames" , and the government "were freeing draft dodgers while holding Calley to blame" - which indicated sympathy for the plight of Calley, and of course, criticism of those who avoided the draft, and possibly the anti-war movement. He concluded that the veterans had "come of age" and were no longer "naive" , and thus they could "be proud of Vietnam" and "love" the "country" .The track "Jake's Song" looked at the perspective of two soldiers held captive in Vietnam as prisoners of war (P.O.W.). The narrator explained that his and Jake's plane went down in the jungle, which they survived. However, they ended up "caught and beaten, locked in this goddamn cage" . The captors separated the soldiers, and the narrator wondered what happened to Jake, while he started to lose hope. It concluded with the soldier wishing he would die.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Show the full entries ▾ · Release page →
#31 Bill McKenna Flashback 1986 · Album · Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am · FPOSF # 1102108 · USA
Annotation
He released this Vietnam-themed LP in the rock-pop genre in 1986, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The title song "Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am" (FPOSF # 1102108) looked at a Vietnam veterans attempt to find his place in society - which had labelled Vietnam a failure and a mistake. It can be viewed as part of a 1980s, Reagan-era trend of nationalism, or attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome". Narrated in the first person, the veteran said that originally he did not want to go to Vietnam, but the experience and memories had helped to define him. But when he returned he "found the country in flames" , and the government "were freeing draft dodgers while holding Calley to blame" - which indicated sympathy for the plight of Calley, and of course, criticism of those who avoided the draft, and possibly the anti-war movement. He concluded that the veterans had "come of age" and were no longer "naive" , and thus they could "be proud of Vietnam" and "love" the "country" .The track "Jake's Song" looked at the perspective of two soldiers held captive in Vietnam as prisoners of war (P.O.W.). The narrator explained that his and Jake's plane went down in the jungle, which they survived. However, they ended up "caught and beaten, locked in this goddamn cage" . The captors separated the soldiers, and the narrator wondered what happened to Jake, while he started to lose hope. It concluded with the soldier wishing he would die.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
#35 Bill McKenna The Veteran 1986 · Album · Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am · FPOSF # 1102108 · USA
Annotation
Bill McKenna served with the marines in Vietnam, and returned to the US disabled. He became a regular performer at the Skidmore Freedom Fest. He died in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1995. The title on the front cover, "F.P.O San Francisco" , referred to the US military postal system, either known as APO (Army Post Office) or FPO (Fleet Post Office). The San Francisco gateway dealt with overseas mail to Vietnam.12

He released this Vietnam-themed LP in the rock-pop genre in 1986, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The title song "Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am" (FPOSF # 1102108) looked at a Vietnam veterans attempt to find his place in society - which had labelled Vietnam a failure and a mistake. It can be viewed as part of a 1980s, Reagan-era trend of nationalism, or attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome". Narrated in the first person, the veteran said that originally he did not want to go to Vietnam, but the experience and memories had helped to define him. But when he returned he "found the country in flames" , and the government "were freeing draft dodgers while holding Calley to blame" - which indicated sympathy for the plight of Calley, and of course, criticism of those who avoided the draft, and possibly the anti-war movement. He concluded that the veterans had "come of age" and were no longer "naive" , and thus they could "be proud of Vietnam" and "love" the "country" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
#37 Bill McKenna Vietnam Memories 1986 · Album · Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am · FPOSF # 1102108 · USA
Annotation
He released this Vietnam-themed LP in the rock-pop genre in 1986, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The title song "Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am" (FPOSF # 1102108) looked at a Vietnam veterans attempt to find his place in society - which had labelled Vietnam a failure and a mistake. It can be viewed as part of a 1980s, Reagan-era trend of nationalism, or attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome". Narrated in the first person, the veteran said that originally he did not want to go to Vietnam, but the experience and memories had helped to define him. But when he returned he "found the country in flames" , and the government "were freeing draft dodgers while holding Calley to blame" - which indicated sympathy for the plight of Calley, and of course, criticism of those who avoided the draft, and possibly the anti-war movement. He concluded that the veterans had "come of age" and were no longer "naive" , and thus they could "be proud of Vietnam" and "love" the "country" .The track "Jake's Song" looked at the perspective of two soldiers held captive in Vietnam as prisoners of war (P.O.W.). The narrator explained that his and Jake's plane went down in the jungle, which they survived. However, they ended up "caught and beaten, locked in this goddamn cage" . The captors separated the soldiers, and the narrator wondered what happened to Jake, while he started to lose hope. It concluded with the soldier wishing he would die.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
#38 Bill McKenna Vietnam: Still Part Of Who I Am 1986 · Album · Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am · FPOSF # 1102108 · USA
Annotation
Bill McKenna served with the marines in Vietnam, and returned to the US disabled. He became a regular performer at the Skidmore Freedom Fest. He died in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1995. The title on the front cover, "F.P.O San Francisco" , referred to the US military postal system, either known as APO (Army Post Office) or FPO (Fleet Post Office). The San Francisco gateway dealt with overseas mail to Vietnam.12 He released this Vietnam-themed LP in the rock-pop genre in 1986, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The title song "Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am" (FPOSF # 1102108) looked at a Vietnam veterans attempt to find his place in society - which had labelled Vietnam a failure and a mistake. It can be viewed as part of a 1980s, Reagan-era trend of nationalism, or attempt to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome" - the perception that domestic controversies over the war led to the US taking a less interventionist position in US foreign affairs. This term also applied to veterans, who may have felt guilt or shame about the war, influenced by the domestic climate they returned to in the US.3

Ronald Reagan spoke about this on 18 August 1980: "for too long, we have lived with the Vietnam Syndrome....As the years dragged on, we were told that peace would come if we would simply stop interfering and go home....We dishonor the memory of 50,000 young Americans who died...we give way to feelings of guilt as if we were doing something shameful, and we have been shabby in our treatment of those who returned. They fought as well and as bravely as any Americans have ever fought in any war. They deserve our gratitude, our respect, and our continuing concern".4 Many war films of the period fitted into this climate of trying to overcome the Vietnam Syndrome, such First Blood [Rambo] (1982), Uncommon Valor (1983), and Missing in Action (1984).

So narrated in the first person, the veteran said that originally he did not want to go to Vietnam, but the experience and memories had helped to define him. But when he returned he "found the country in flames" , and the government "were freeing draft dodgers while holding Calley to blame" - which indicated sympathy for the plight of Calley, and of course, criticism of those who avoided the draft, and possibly the anti-war movement. He concluded that the veterans had "come of age" and were no longer "naive" , and thus they could "be proud of Vietnam" and "love" the "country" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Front cover "F.P.O. San Francisco / Vietnam / Still Part Of Who I Am", with a map of South Vietnam marked with the four Corps areas and Highway One, surrounded by snapshots of a young Marine in Vietnam; jacket made in Canada.

The back carries McKenna's note, signed "Bill McKenna, 'Wild Willie', 233-4008": his tour of duty changed him forever, the 22 months "in-country" and the condemnation he met on returning home, and his offering of these memories so that veterans "may share again the pride in each other that only we can know". Service printed: '68–'69, 7th Engineer Battalion, 1st Mar. Div., I Corps; '69, 3rd Amtrac Bat., 3rd Mar.

Div., I Corps. Dedicated "to all my brothers who served, especially to Animal, Doc, Lee, Freddie, Sonny, Mavrellis, Savo, Turk, Crazy Paul Harrington, Jim Mason, Matey and the more than 58,000 who were left behind." Tracks: side one Vietnam: Still Part of Who I Am, Billy's Friend, Kentucky Boy, The Veteran; side two R & R Woman, Vietnam Memories, Flashback, Không biết, America, Jake's Song. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Didn't want to be in Vietnam, didn't want to see those things...
But I got home safe from Vietnam, but I couldn't tell the people what was really going on
Vietnam, it's part of who I am
Like memories of those first days that are spent in Da Nang
Vietnam, It's part of who I am
I source of pride
I felt the need to hide inside
When I got home safe from Vietnam, I found that the people hadn't noticed that I'd gone
Back here in the world I found the country in flames
They were freeing draft dodgers while holding Calley to blame
And all my brothers who fought in this war we've now come of age
Were not naive anymore
We all love our country that's why we went to Vietnam...
I'm trying to stay, start today, be proud of Vietnam
Show full lyrics (15 lines) ▾
#32 Danny Ratcliff Band Missing in Action 1986 · Single · The Wall / Missing in Action · Maximum Sound · USA
Annotation
Country pop double-sided Vietnam War 7" record, the first side "The Wall" (Maximum Sound Publications) dealt with the memorial wall in Washington D.C., while the B-side "Missing in Action" looked at the P.O.W. / M.I.A. issue. The front and back of the picture sleeve said that the songs were dedicated to those M.I.A., and inspired by the Christmas season:
"these song were written to honor American soldiers whom names are on the Wall, to express concern for those who are still missing in action, and to say thank you to all who served our country during the Vietnam era...the lyrics were written on Christmas Eve as I thought of the many Americans whose Christmas would be saddened by memories of those whose names are on the Wall"
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Maximum Sound Publications, Route 5, Box 141, Portsmouth, Ohio, "Take It to the Max"; Side B, "Missing in Action", lyrics Max Sidders (music & vocals Danny Ratcliff), 3:05, ASCAP, copyright all rights reserved; credited to Danny Ratcliff "Band"; produced by Max Sidders and Danny Ratcliff, engineered by Joseph Ferguson; "Recorded at Don Brown Studios 1830 Vinton, Portsmouth, Ohio". [From the record sleeve and labels]
#33 Doug Ranno Part of Me Is Still in Vietnam 1986 · Single · Ranno # RR-8601 · USA
Notes
Part of Me Is Still in Vietnam (Ranno, Doug)

Post-war 80s. Pop rock. Sacramento, California.
Veteran still living with Vietnam - PTSD.
Reference to M.I.A.'s.
A war without reason - people who died were innocent.
Notes
Ranno Records RR-8601, BMI, 45 RPM, blue label, copyright 1986, PA 892-369; the same song on both sides, "Side 1 - Stereo" and "Side 2 - Mono", time 3:35.

Picture sleeve front: the title in red over blue, with the title repeated in white lines and stars across the sleeve.

Sleeve back: "Dedicated to all people affected by the Vietnam War"; words and music © Doug Ranno, copyright PA892369 1986, published BMI Ranno Records 1986; produced by Doug Ranno with special thanks to Mike Mallett and Tom Phillips; recorded at Harbor Studios, Sacramento, California; manufactured by Sonic Arts; design by Diane Brown; special thanks to Michael Kelley, Tony Allen and Mike Mallett.

Ranno Records, P.O. Box 221427, Sacramento, California 95822-8429. [From the record sleeve and labels]
#34 J.C. Weaver Salute the Boys of Vietnam 1986 · Single · Wild Turkey # 7719 · USA
Annotation
Josiah Cephas Weaver, born 9 October 1941 in Virginia, USA released the post-war patriotic track "Salute the Boys of Vietnam" (Wild Turkey Records # WT 7719) in memory of his friend who died in Vietnam - "in 1986, Josiah penned another 'rock house song' in memory of an 18 year old Dunedin friend and soldier, who died in Vietnam. That song, 'Salute the Boys of Vietnam', was recognized in the Congressional Record on October 16th of that same year by Senator Sasser from Tennessee".1 The narrator recalled the soldier heading out to war and the conflict: "leaving home...to fight a war...crawling through the jungle in Vietnam" . The song then paid tribute to those who fought in the war, referencing the memorial in Washington D.C.: "remember those...names...on the Wall" . The song also referenced medals and "ribbons of war" - another way that a country / government paid tribute to a soldier. The line "memories of a battle that is no more" may be a minor reference to PTSD. Released on Weaver's on label Wild Turkey Records, based in Clearwater, Florida, USA. Distributed by Fischer & Lucus, Inc. (Nashville, Tennessee, USA). Writing credit went to J.C. Weaver, Maynard Weaver, Jack Brown, and Joddy James. Produced by J.C. Weaver and Jack Brown.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Wild Turkey Records WT 7719 A (U-17124), stereo, marked "D J Copy"; "Salute the Boys of Vietnam" (J. C. Weaver - Maynard Weaver - Jack Brown - Joddy James), Wild Turkey Music BMI, 3:04 plus fade; produced by Jack Brown and J.C. Weaver, ©℗ 1986. Distributed by Fischer & Lucus Inc., 50 Music Square West 902, Nashville, TN 37203. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Leaving home with papers in hand
To fight a war that no one understands
Trying to be a man in this strange land
Crawling through the jungle in Vietnam
We salute the boys of Vietnam
We salute the ones that gave it all
We salute the boys of Vietnam
We salute the one that had to fall
Shining medal and ribbons of a war
Memories of a battle that is no more
Fighting boys of America who stood tall
Remember those whose names are on the Wall
We salute the boys of Vietnam
Genre: ♪ Country
#36 Hysteria Ward Vietnam 1986 · Album · From Breakfast to Madness · All the Madmen · UK
Annotation
Gothic Rock / Anarcho-Punk group formed in London, UK, they officially disbanded in 1987, although throughout the 200s they have been playing concerts together. The line-up consisted of: Louise Harris (vocals, keyboards), Bogdan (guitar), M .W. Smith (keyboard, piano, vocals), and various artists on drums and bass. The song "Vietnam" (All the Madmen Records # MADC 108) was originally only released on cassette, and re-issued on vinyl in 2013.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Night moves in and I’m falling again
Darkness pulling me into
The empty room
You called me once
You called me twice
I heard you
Now I observe you from afar
Now it’s too late
We’re not together
Were we ever
Now I sit alone
Remembering
The smile you gave me
A cold blank stare
Show full lyrics (15 lines) ▾
Themes: PTSD Vet
#39 John Steer Why Is Johnny Crazy 1986 · Album · Circuit Rider · Living Word # 1 · USA
Annotation
The song "The Wall" (Living Word Records # 001) featured on an album of Vietnam War-related tracks by John Steer, a veteran of the war. According to his website, he actually sung at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Wall, although it does not say which song.123 He was originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and currently lives in Winter Haven, Florida, USA. This album was recorded in Charlotte, Arkansas, USA. The song was a cover of "The Wall" by Festival, discussed above, which took a patriotic position, describing the deaths as "the price we paid for freedom" . The song centred around the story of a mother, whose son died in Vietnam, visiting the war memorial.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
"Circuit Rider" John Steer. The cover photograph looks down on a wooden table draped with a U.S. flag, laid with Vietnam-era memorabilia: an "Airborne Classbook", medals, dog tags, a beret, a 173rd Airborne shoulder patch, an ace of spades, a POW-MIA flag and ribbon, an "Agent Orange" button, a copy of "Tracers" and a photograph of a motorcyclist among rows of military graves. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Genre: ♪ Pop
#40 MDC Drink to Forget 1986 · Album · Smoke Signals · R Radical # MDC-4 · USA
Notes
Drink to Forget

Hardcore punk, post-war. Draft, combat, Napalm, Agent Orange
Impact on vet, PTSD
Lyrics
English
Dropped out of school that day
Joined up right away
Drafted by the mid of May
Taught me how to obey
Had no cash to get away
Day to night to night to day
It didn’t have to be this way
But every day I have to pay
You asked me why, now I say
They said it’s kill or you’ll be killed
They said it’s what I had to do
They said it’s kill or you’ll be killed
They said it’s what I had to do /They said it’s kill or you’ll be killed
They said it’s what I had to do
Or in Vietnam I’d be one dead fool
I worked for the U.S. war machine
They paid me well to be so mean
Forever I will be in debt
The smell of bloodshed, hundreds dead
Bombs, men, crying children
The lovely women I shot dead
It could have been me instead
Those sights and sounds scream in my head
Now I drink and drink
Drink some more, drink some more, drink some more
Now I drink
Drink some more, drink some more, drink some more
Now I drink
Drink some more, drink some more, drink some more
Now I drink to forget
Every day the movie plays
Again, again inside my brain
‘Til I can’t take it anymore
Other laugh, but they don’t know
The pain I feel down to my soul
I didn’t know no better then and now each day I gotta...
I didn’t know no better then and now each day I gotta...
I didn’t know no better then and now each day I gotta...
I didn’t know no better then and now each day I gotta drink to forget
I carry scars head to toe, feel the pain you’ll never know
Napalm and Agent Orange are cancer causing my slow death
The sweetness of life has turned bitter to taste
The only friend I have left is the drink I drink to forget
I killed and fought for Uncle Sam
Now I kill my memories anyway I can
For the lives I took, I pay the debt
Every day I drink to forget
I gotta drink to forget
I gotta drink to forget
Drink, drink to forget
Show full lyrics (51 lines) ▾

1987

#41 Pat Murphy Combat Vet 1987 · Single · I Can Walk / Combat Vet · OL # OLR-45-123 · USA
Notes
Combat Vet (Murphy, Pat)

Narrative, post-war 80s. Patriotic.
Walk proud - forget about Vietnam
You did your duty.
Notes
OL Records Inc. OLR-45-123, side B, grey label, ℗© 1987, 10051 Greenleaf Ave., Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670, (213) 946-1524; "Combat Vet" (P. Murphy – F. Charity), 2:50, Boggy Depot Music B.M.I.; produced by Overton Lee. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Genre: ♪ Rock
#42 John Schumann Safe Behind the Wire 1987 · Single · Safe Behind the Wire / He's Got the Money · CBS # 651353 7 · Australia
Annotation
Australian post-war song "Safe Behind the Wire" (CBS # 651353 7) looked at the impact of the war on the veteran. It featured on the 1987 album Etched in Blue (CBS # 460271 1), by John Schumann, born in Adelaide, South Australia (18 May 1953). It also featured on the 2008 album Behind the Lines which focused on war, containing First and Second World War songs, as well as some other well-known Vietnam tracks, including Schumann's famous composition I Was Only 19, which he performed as a member of the group Redgum (1983). The album also featured a cover of "Khe Sanh" by Cold Chisel. The narration started by describing the end of the war, the soldiers at the airport in Saigon waiting to go home. It referenced the government's justification for the war: "fighting for freedom in South-East Asia....speeches about a domino falling from China into Vietnam" , thus referencing the "domino theory" - that the collapse of South Vietnam into the control of the communist north would trigger the collapse of democracy in other countries - the idea of which came from President Eisenhower, during a press conferences on 7 April 1954.1 The narrator then criticised the government for not looking after the veterans. It also referenced Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): "living on your nerves" ..
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
From the LP Etched in Blue (CBS 460271); produced by Peter Cobbin, mixed by Peter Cobbin and Jim Taig, recorded at Music Farm Studios; matrix MX250217.

The sleeve is dedicated to Phillip Thomson O.A., national president of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, who died on 23 November 1986. Promotional copy. CBS 651353 7, Side A, 45 R.P.M.; "Safe Behind the Wire" b/w "He's Got the Money", both (J. Schumann), published by Gilbey; mixed at Studios 301; "Australian Performance/Australian Composition"; ℗ 1987 CBS Productions Pty.

Limited, made in Australia by CBS Records Australia Limited.

The front sleeve shows a sepia photograph of a young soldier in a netted helmet behind strands of barbed wire, with the dedication ending "Phill was dusted off for the last time in the early hours of Sunday 23/11/86. A good mate and a great Australian... goodbye and God bless Phill..."; the back sleeve carries a "Promotion Only – Not for Sale" stamp. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
When the bodies were bagged and the telegrams sent
And the very last chopper had gone
And you looked out the window of the 707 on the airfield in Saigon
Some of us thought that the war was over
Some of us couldn’t care less
But you came home and threw a stay-behind party to try to clear up the mess
I don’t know where you are tonight.. I’m down here in a firefight…
But where-ever you are, I hope you’re safe behind the wire
We were fighting for freedom in South-East Asia…. That’s how the story ran
Windy speeches about a domino falling from China into Vietnam…
But look back in sickness and anger
Australia didn’t honour her debt
And non-commission Officer Thompson learned that the war wasn’t over yet
Living on your nerves, living on the phone and sleeping in airports far from home…
Dusted off now and safe behind the wire
Well he have and he gave and he kept on giving, till he just couldn’t give anymore
And he gave it away one morning in Sydney in a rust-red Commodore...
And I remember Phill best talking on the phone
With a cheeky grin on his face…
Because Royal Commissioners and Knights of the Realm
Thought that Phill didn’t know his place
Primis Player Placeholder
And the’re still bagging bodies, Phill, though fourteen years have gone
And the mums and the dads and the wives and the kids still have to soldier on
Show full lyrics (25 lines) ▾

1988

#43–45 Bobby Ross Voice of America 1988 · Album · Constellation # VOA-1 · USA
3 of the 7 songs from this album in the archive are in this collection
Notes
All songs on the album - need to catalog.
Show the full entries ▾ · Release page →
#43 Bobby Ross The Home of Billy D 1988 · Album · Voice of America · Constellation # VOA-1 · USA
Notes
All songs on the album - need to catalog.
Notes
Constellation, ℗ and © 1988 Constellation, 4741 Trousdale Drive, Nashville, TN 37220.

The front cover shows Bobby Ross in a cowboy hat beside the bronze figures of a soldiers' memorial; the back shows the inscription of the Vietnam Veterans Park memorial ("From 1961 to 1975, more than 49,000 Tennesseans served in Southeast Asia…") and a "Seal / LRRP / Big Red One" triangle emblem.

Credits: Don Hoffman, executive producer; Bobby Ross, producer and lead vocals; Mike Stidolph and Dick Bradley, associate producers; musicians include Eddie Bayers and Michael Young (drums), Mark O'Connor (fiddle, mandolin, mandola), Sonny Garrish (steel guitar, dobro), Bela Fleck (banjo), Terry Lee McMillan (harmonica), Reggie Young and Brent Rowan (guitars), Willie Rainsford (piano); background vocals include Stella Parton (courtesy of Airborne Records); photographer Mike Allen; engineer Jeff West.

Ross dedicates his performance to "the men of the Air-O-Rifle Platoon, 2/17 Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division, 1968, in I corps, South Vietnam", and the Nashville firms who helped make the album say to all Vietnam vets "At last, Welcome Home and God Bless". The lyric insert prints full lyrics with writer credits: Finally Welcomed Home (Don Hoffman, Judi Hoffman, Jeff Raymond), Back to Blue Jeans Again, Saigon State of Mind, Goodbye to West Virginia, The Reunion and The Voice of America (George Jeffrey), Too Close to the Line and The Home of Billy D. (George Jeffrey & Rick Cooper), Me and Oscar (Robert T. Alsterberg/Richard Helm), No Home for the Brave (In the Land of the Free) (George Jeffrey & Mel Besher); copyrights 1987, Too Close to the Line 1988. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
And the silver star he won outside Pleiku
You see Billy was a hero in the war in Vietnam
He didn't run when came his turn to go
Genre: ♪ Country
#44 Bobby Ross Me and Oscar 1988 · Album · Voice of America · Constellation # VOA-1 · USA
Notes
All songs on the album - need to catalog.
Notes
Constellation, ℗ and © 1988 Constellation, 4741 Trousdale Drive, Nashville, TN 37220.

The front cover shows Bobby Ross in a cowboy hat beside the bronze figures of a soldiers' memorial; the back shows the inscription of the Vietnam Veterans Park memorial ("From 1961 to 1975, more than 49,000 Tennesseans served in Southeast Asia…") and a "Seal / LRRP / Big Red One" triangle emblem.

Credits: Don Hoffman, executive producer; Bobby Ross, producer and lead vocals; Mike Stidolph and Dick Bradley, associate producers; musicians include Eddie Bayers and Michael Young (drums), Mark O'Connor (fiddle, mandolin, mandola), Sonny Garrish (steel guitar, dobro), Bela Fleck (banjo), Terry Lee McMillan (harmonica), Reggie Young and Brent Rowan (guitars), Willie Rainsford (piano); background vocals include Stella Parton (courtesy of Airborne Records); photographer Mike Allen; engineer Jeff West.

Ross dedicates his performance to "the men of the Air-O-Rifle Platoon, 2/17 Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division, 1968, in I corps, South Vietnam", and the Nashville firms who helped make the album say to all Vietnam vets "At last, Welcome Home and God Bless". The lyric insert prints full lyrics with writer credits: Finally Welcomed Home (Don Hoffman, Judi Hoffman, Jeff Raymond), Back to Blue Jeans Again, Saigon State of Mind, Goodbye to West Virginia, The Reunion and The Voice of America (George Jeffrey), Too Close to the Line and The Home of Billy D. (George Jeffrey & Rick Cooper), Me and Oscar (Robert T. Alsterberg/Richard Helm), No Home for the Brave (In the Land of the Free) (George Jeffrey & Mel Besher); copyrights 1987, Too Close to the Line 1988. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
I went to school he went to war
He came back with ghosts in his eyes
Oscar found it hard to eat, hard to think, and hard to sleep
Genre: ♪ Country
#45 Bobby Ross Saigon State of Mind 1988 · Album · Voice of America · Constellation # VOA-1 · USA
Notes
All songs on the album - need to catalog.
Notes
Constellation, ℗ and © 1988 Constellation, 4741 Trousdale Drive, Nashville, TN 37220.

The front cover shows Bobby Ross in a cowboy hat beside the bronze figures of a soldiers' memorial; the back shows the inscription of the Vietnam Veterans Park memorial ("From 1961 to 1975, more than 49,000 Tennesseans served in Southeast Asia…") and a "Seal / LRRP / Big Red One" triangle emblem.

Credits: Don Hoffman, executive producer; Bobby Ross, producer and lead vocals; Mike Stidolph and Dick Bradley, associate producers; musicians include Eddie Bayers and Michael Young (drums), Mark O'Connor (fiddle, mandolin, mandola), Sonny Garrish (steel guitar, dobro), Bela Fleck (banjo), Terry Lee McMillan (harmonica), Reggie Young and Brent Rowan (guitars), Willie Rainsford (piano); background vocals include Stella Parton (courtesy of Airborne Records); photographer Mike Allen; engineer Jeff West.

Ross dedicates his performance to "the men of the Air-O-Rifle Platoon, 2/17 Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division, 1968, in I corps, South Vietnam", and the Nashville firms who helped make the album say to all Vietnam vets "At last, Welcome Home and God Bless". The lyric insert prints full lyrics with writer credits: Finally Welcomed Home (Don Hoffman, Judi Hoffman, Jeff Raymond), Back to Blue Jeans Again, Saigon State of Mind, Goodbye to West Virginia, The Reunion and The Voice of America (George Jeffrey), Too Close to the Line and The Home of Billy D. (George Jeffrey & Rick Cooper), Me and Oscar (Robert T. Alsterberg/Richard Helm), No Home for the Brave (In the Land of the Free) (George Jeffrey & Mel Besher); copyrights 1987, Too Close to the Line 1988. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Well it was twenty years ago
But brother don't you know
His thoughts go back to Nam from time to time
Genre: ♪ Country
#46 The Last Band on Earth I'm Coming Home 1988 · Single · I'm Coming Home / This Land Is Your Land · Pug · USA
Notes
I'm Coming Home. Elgin, Illinois

Punk rock, P.O.W., post-war 80s
15 years in a Vietcong cell, given up for dead
Starving, thinking of family everyday
But coming home to the land of the free
Suffering from PTSDf
Notes
Picture sleeve states that proceeds from the record were donated. Pug Records, cream label with cartoon pug on a globe, no catalogue number; "I'm Coming Home" (Krampert), 4:54, © 1988, Wonder Pug Productions (BMI).

The front of the picture sleeve has a black-and-white ink drawing with "I'm Coming Home +" in large hand lettering and the band name lower left.

The back lists the flip side "This Land Is Your Land" (Woody Guthrie), 3:29, TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI); credits Eric Hayden for the front cover design, adds "Winslow Grumpitz – Helicopter on 'I'm Coming Home'", recording at Studio A Recording, West Chicago, IL, and engineering by Maurice Smeets; it states that "The proceeds generated by this recording are being given to: The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia", with further information from Wonder Pug Productions, P.O.

Box 1543, Elgin, IL 60120. [From the record sleeve and labels]
#47 Judy Small Home Front 1988 · Album · Redwood # RR8808 · Australia
Annotation
Judy Small, contemporary folk artist, born in 1953 in Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia. This album contained the song "Home Front" (Redwood Records # RR8808), which starts with the line "I've seen them march on Anzac Day... They look as though Vietnam left no stain upon their lives..." . Further analysis coming soon.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I've seen them march on Anzac Day... They look as though Vietnam left no stain upon their lives...

1989

#48 The Mark of Cain Battlesick 1989 · Album · Dominator # DOMA006 · Australia
Annotation
Australian Post-Punk group formed in August 1984, in Adelaide, South Australia. The core members were the brothers John Scott (guitar, vocals) and Kim Scott (bass), accompanied by a rotating line-up. They released the song "Battlesick" (Dominator Records # DOMA 006), also the name of the album, about a Vietnam veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "torn apart inside...our head in your hands" . The image on the front cover was a David Hume Kennerly portrait of an American soldier in Vietnam.1 The group also released the song "Viet Vet" on the 1994 single Tell Me ( Insipid Vinyl # IV-27).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Feeling like a man
Wanna go for a ride
Sweet memories will fade
When you're torn apart inside
Welcome home hero
Battlesick loner
With your head in your hands
Could be no-one understands
Well it's gone the wrong way
I don't want to be saved
Seeing what you see
Stoned in your dreams
Going home alone
Always the same song
Well it's gone the wrong way
I don't want to be saved...
Welcome home hero
Battlesick loner
Everything will burn
I can't breathe, I can't breathe
I don't wanna be afraid
I don't wanna be saved
I'm in Hell
Let's go!
Show full lyrics (25 lines) ▾
Themes: PTSD Vet
#49 Remember When Long Black Wall 1989 · Single · Long Black Wall / Lone Ranger · Country Star # 504 · USA
Annotation
Post-war 80s pop rock / fanfare song "Long Black Wall" (Country Star # 504) by a group called Remember When, out of Franklin, Pennsylvania, USA. A promotional sheet which came with the record said: "written and produced by Bob Belche, Viet Nam marine, awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star. Sounds-effects are the Bulger, Marching, and gun fire of the National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA".1 The sound-effects are a reference to about half-way through the track, when the narrator has a flashback to Vietnam, a representation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The lyrics of the song paid tribute to those those died: "remembering you this way, precious names on a long black Wall" . Song is listed in the 1989 edition of Songwriter's Market.2 The label Country Star, a subsidiary of Process Records, released a bunch of other Vietnam-related records, such as "Missing in Action" by Tom Booker (click on label link for more).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
CSI 504-A (U-24032M), 45 RPM, stereo, ℗ 1989; "Long Black Wall" (Bob Belche'), 3:20, Process Music-BMI; producer Bob Belche'. Country Star International, P. O. Box 569, Franklin, PA. 16323. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Precious names on a long black Wall, hear the muffled drums
The bugle call for a mothers son, daddy's girl
Names in stone for a living world
As I was walking by my house I saw some soldier boys in uniform so tall and proud
They looked like living toys
Without a glance they marched on by, young girls on their mind
And I had a memory of another day in time...
[Flash back: sound-effect and spoken word dialogue of war]
So heart shown by you proud young men
You've every right to be
Your the price that will be paid
Your the price of victory
Somewhere our faceless foe will cut you down one day
And broken hearts will pray for you, remembering you this way
Precious names on a long black Wall, hear the muffled drums
The bugle call for a mothers son, daddy's girl...
My leg gets so little room down there, mostly when it rains
I remember a few old friends in that Wall, with all their names...
Show full lyrics (19 lines) ▾

1990-2009

Songs about PTSD moved into metal, hip hop and musical theatre, and the subject returned with the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Australia, "I Was Only 19" was re-recorded by The Herd and by John Schumann.

1990

#50 Poison Something to Believe In 1990 · Capitol # PRO 79272 · USA
Notes
Something to Believe in (Poison)

Post-war, 1990s. Vietnam veteran. PTSD, mistreatment of vet. Kills himself on Christmas eve.
Glam rock, power ballad.

Will I see him on the TV preachin' 'bout the promised land
He tells me to believe in Jesus, and steals the money from my hand
Some say he was a good man, but Lord I think he sinned, yeah
Twenty-two years of mental tears, cries a suicidal Vietnam vet
Who fought a losing war on a foreign shore
To find his country didn't want him back
Their bullets took his best friend in Saigon
Our lawyers took his wife and kids, no regrets
In a time I don't remember, in a war he can't forget
He cried "Forgive me for what I've done there
Cause I never meant the things I did"
And give me something to believe in if there's a Lord above
And give me something to believe in Oh, Lord arise
My best friend died a lonely man, in some Palm Springs hotel room
I got the call last Christmas Eve and they told me the news
I tried all night not to break down and cry
As the tears rolled down my face, I felt so cold and empty
Like a lost soul out of place
And the mirror mirror on the wall sees my smile it fades again
Sometimes I wish to God I didn't know now
The things I didn't know then road you gotta take me home
I drive by the homeless sleeping on a cold dark street
Like bodies in an open grave, underneath the broken old neon sign
That used to read JESUS SAVES, a mile away live the rich folks
And I see how they're living it up, while the poor they eat from hand to mouth
The rich is drinkin' from a golden cup
And it just makes me wonder why so many lose, so few win
You take the high road and I'll take the low road
Sometimes I wish to God I didn't know now
The things I didn't know then and give me something to believe in
#51 Flower Leperds Vietnam 1990 · Album · Purple Reign · Triple X # 51045-1 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 1984 in West Covina, California, USA. They released the song "Vietnam" (Triple X Records # 51045-1), narrated from the perspective of the son of a Vietnam veteran, "from the jungle...he was sixteen" . The veteran turned his gun on his family: "daddy please, don't point that gun at me, I'm not the enemy, this ain't Vietnam" - and thus another portrayal of a veteran who suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event. This group also covered the Ramones' Vietnam War song "Commando" on the 1991 compilation Gabba Gabba Hey: A Tribute to the Ramones.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
...He's from the jungle
He was sixteen
He's rip his heart out...
Vietnam...
He was a father, he was a son
No holly ghost...
My mama crying...
I've never seen my mother cry like this before
She start... to scream...
He was my icon, he was alive, he was the way...
Vietnam
Daddy's tears...
Daddy please, don't point that gun at me
I'm not the enemy...
This ain't Vietnam...
Show full lyrics (16 lines) ▾
Also in: ▤ Punk Songs
#52 Boublil & Schönberg The Fall of Saigon 1990 · Musical · Miss Saigon [Original London Cast] · Geffen # WX 329 · UK
Notes
Album line, contains Vietnam references. Note: need to catalogue songs. Musical set during Vietnam War. [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]
Genre: ♪ Musical
#53 Boublil & Schönberg The Confrontation 1990 · Musical · Miss Saigon [Original London Cast] · Geffen # WX 329 · UK
Notes
Album line, contains Vietnam references. Note: need to catalogue songs. Musical set during Vietnam War. [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]
Genre: ♪ Musical

1991

#54–56 Sarge Lintecum Vietnam Blues: Combat Tested Blues...for Peace 1991 · Album · Tempest · USA
3 of the 14 songs from this album in the archive are in this collection
Annotation
Sarge Lintecum was a veteran, who served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, for twenty six months. His first tour was for eleven months, in the jungle with the 101st Airborne Division, doing search and destroy missions. His second tour was at E Company Support Battalion, at the base camp of the 101st Airborne Division, and his third tour was as a security guard with the elite Saigon Machine Gun Patrol.1 He released a few albums of Vietnam War-related material. On the blues rock album he released the song "Reunion at the Wall" , which started out with the intro: "I'd like to dedicated this song to all the GIs whose names are on the Wall" . The narrator said that he was going to the memorial wall in D.C. to visit his friends that he served with in Vietnam.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Show the full entries ▾ · Release page →
#54 Sarge Lintecum Time Bomb in My Mind 1991 · Album · Vietnam Blues: Combat Tested Blues...for Peace · Tempest · USA
Annotation
Sarge Lintecum was a veteran, who served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, for twenty six months. His first tour was for eleven months, in the jungle with the 101st Airborne Division, doing search and destroy missions. His second tour was at E Company Support Battalion, at the base camp of the 101st Airborne Division, and his third tour was as a security guard with the elite Saigon Machine Gun Patrol.1 He released a few albums of Vietnam War-related material. On the blues rock album he released the song "Reunion at the Wall" , which started out with the intro: "I'd like to dedicated this song to all the GIs whose names are on the Wall" . The narrator said that he was going to the memorial wall in D.C. to visit his friends that he served with in Vietnam.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Genre: ♪ Rock
#55 Sarge Lintecum Veteran's Wife 1991 · Album · Vietnam Blues: Combat Tested Blues...for Peace · Tempest · USA
Annotation
Sarge Lintecum was a veteran, who served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, for twenty six months. His first tour was for eleven months, in the jungle with the 101st Airborne Division, doing search and destroy missions. His second tour was at E Company Support Battalion, at the base camp of the 101st Airborne Division, and his third tour was as a security guard with the elite Saigon Machine Gun Patrol.1 He released a few albums of Vietnam War-related material. On the blues rock album he released the song "Reunion at the Wall" , which started out with the intro: "I'd like to dedicated this song to all the GIs whose names are on the Wall" . The narrator said that he was going to the memorial wall in D.C. to visit his friends that he served with in Vietnam.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
#56 Sarge Lintecum Welcome Home 1991 · Album · Vietnam Blues: Combat Tested Blues...for Peace · Tempest · USA
Annotation
Sarge Lintecum was a veteran, who served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968, for twenty six months. His first tour was for eleven months, in the jungle with the 101st Airborne Division, doing search and destroy missions. His second tour was at E Company Support Battalion, at the base camp of the 101st Airborne Division, and his third tour was as a security guard with the elite Saigon Machine Gun Patrol.1 He released a few albums of Vietnam War-related material. On the blues rock album he released the song "Reunion at the Wall" , which started out with the intro: "I'd like to dedicated this song to all the GIs whose names are on the Wall" . The narrator said that he was going to the memorial wall in D.C. to visit his friends that he served with in Vietnam.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
CD issue on Tempest Recording, barcode 6 42973 71452 4.

The front cover is a sepia photograph of the long-bearded Sarge Lintecum in sunglasses, superimposed over a young helmeted soldier aiming a rifle in the jungle, with names and service branches (USA, USMC, USN) from a memorial wall faintly visible behind; "Vietnam Blues" is stencilled in yellow and "Combat Tested Blues...For Peace" along the foot.

The back has a pencil drawing of Lintecum in army fatigues with 101st Airborne patch, sergeant's stripes, "Lintecum" and "U.S. Army" name tapes, arms folded, with a signature beneath, and lists 14 tracks: The Vietnam Blues; This Shirt of Mine; Into the Fire from the Fryin' Pan; Time Bomb in My Mind; Oh Shit; Sister Soldier; Veterans Wife; Blue Monsoon; Combat Fatigue; It Don't Mean Nothin'; Five Down; Saturday Morning Cartoons; Reunion at the Wall; Welcome Home. [From the record sleeve and labels]
#57 Jewel The Vietnam Requiem 1991 · Album · Revolution in Heaven · Classic Trash # CTRCD 9101 · Netherlands
Annotation
Heavy Metal band, formed in 1986, Haarlem, Netherlands, and disbanded in 1992, shortly after this, their only album. The final song "The Vietnam Requiem" was split into eight parts, which included documentary clips, included quoting Lyndon B. Johnson, US president (1962-1968). It referenced many well-known themes and episodes, including combat conditions, search and destroy, the Tet Offensive, the My Lai massacre, missing in action (M.I.A.), killed in action (K.I.A.), medals (the Purple Heart and Silver Star), and the treatment and impact on the veteran. Sections 1-6 focused on the combat zone: "Hueys sliding up to combat zone... lock and load and on patrol" .

Sections 7-8 focused on the post-war negative impact of the war, on those that fought: "it’s all over now...our youth was blown away" . It also contained descriptions of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "it left scars in their minds... back home, still in the jungle"

The veteran also recalled various place names, familiar sayings, and infamous events: "Khe Sanh, My lai, didi mow" - Khe Sanh was a reference to an area of Vietnam that played a critical role in the war, including The Battle of Khe Sanh, and the US Khe Sanh Combat Base - the city and province are frequently referenced in song, most famously by Australian band Cold Chisel, with the song "Khe Sanh" (1978). My Lai was a reference to the massacre - the mass murder of between 300-500 civilians in the South Vietnamese area known as "Pinkville", containing the hamlets, known as My Lai 4 and My Khe 4, and throughout the area of Song My, by US forces on 16 March 1968. "Didi mow" - this was a phrase adopted by US military personnel during the Vietnam War, from the Vietnamese "đi đi mau" ("get lost") - popularised in the movie The Deer Hunter (1978).1 The song concluded with another reference to a Vietnam War film - Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) - once again showing the huge impact of films on culture.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I. The arrival: Da Nang 1965…. 365 and a wake up
II. Ignorance and heavy combat
Fear expressions, 19 here in Nam
I don’t know where I belong and don’t even know where I am
New guy, madcap, steppin’ on a booby-trap
Yelled it out, we shut him down, he couldn’t take the pain
Left out in the jungle, to serve the U.S.A.
We sang 'God bless America' and shot our hope away
III. Second tour:
Saigon ‘66, ready for take off
Hueys sliding up to combat zone
Basically grunts digging foxholes
Lock and load and on patrol
Into the bush we gotta lose some of the best of our platoon
P.F.C.’s face shot off during the monsoon rain
The dead will be anonymous to us in memory
We’ll settin’ up an ambush and waitin all to see
Bang, Victor Charlie
It seems we’re gone lose our minds
Slowly running out of ammo, right behind the enemy line
We fought to survive… and prayed to stay alive
IV. Tunnel warfare:
Fire in the hole
I’m down in the dark with a tunnel rats mark
A flashlight and a gun aside
Slide through the mud and gather my guts
Thinkin’ it’s gonna be alright
But the feeling is gone, I am afraid and alone
And think about home
Cu chi ‘67, the other side of heaven
The start of 'Cedar falls'
To drive the Viet Cong to the walls
Down it’s hot and sweaty, dangerous and tricky
Vermin on the floor… and bamboo behind the door
Crawling like a madman, soon maybe a dead man and I’m afraid
That’s what I’m gonna be
My bloods running fast and the pumpin’ sound of my heartbeat is loud
Like there’s yellin’ a crowd
V. Search and destroy mission:
Out from the ground, into villages around
Search and destroy, look for decoy
Zippo raid, ace of spades, cover your back, air attack
Left out in the jungle, inside the enemy’s mouth
The N.V.A. is marching, he chews and spits us out
VI. Tet offensive: (instrumental)
VII. The disillusion:
Vietnam, after 1972
It’s all over now and put back behind
For those who fought there it left scars in their minds
Khe Sanh, My lai, didi mow, get away
Silver star, purple heart, body-bag or M.I.A
Back home, still in the jungle, we’ve served the U.S.A.
We sing 'God bless America'
Our youth has blown away
VIII. The awakening: Good morning Vietnam
Show full lyrics (56 lines) ▾

1992

#58 Moral Disgust Vietnam (Isn't Over) 1992 · EP · Vietnam · Erosion # ERO-029 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group Moral Disgust from Wisconsin, released the song "Vietnam (Isn't Over)" (Erosion Records # ERO-029) in 1990, continuing the 80s trend of presenting a Vietnam veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "back in Vietnam...Johnny's never coming home..." , and "something's made him lose his mind" . The vet turns to violence, purchasing a gun, and shooting his family dead: "attacked his mom and dad today... Johnny shot grandpa... he's on a killing spree" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Erosion Records, 2134 S. 12th, Manitowoc, WI 54220, ERO-029, matrix U-34093M, A side, yellow label printed in red with a hooded figure; "Vietnam (Isn't Over)" (Moral Disgust), © 1992 Guitarscum Lilypad Ltd.; band address c/o Sal, 1113 Williamson #4, Madison, WI 53703.

The front sleeve, marked "3 Song EP", lists "Vietnam", "Elvira Gulch" and "My Prayer" over a drawing of a wide-eyed screaming soldier in a helmet.

The back credits production to Moral Disgust and Mark Hillstrom, mixing by Jeff Verner and Moral Disgust, recording at Garage In the Sky, Oshkosh, WI, engineered by Jeff Verner, artwork by Sal Serio and band photo by Boe DeGoey; it names the band as Chris Propp, Jeff DeGoey and Sal Serio, thanks past members ("we've finally got vinyl, mates!") and Wisconsin bands, and states "All songs copyright 1992, published by Guitarscum Lilypad Ltd." over a photo of the three members under a stone arch. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Heavy artillery from the surplus store
Johnny...feels so right in his hands
Back in Vietnam
War, Johnny's never coming home
The death wish won't leave home alone
Nobody sure what it seems
Attacked his mom and dad today...
Johnny shot grandpa screaming
Something's made him lose his mind...
Blind hatred is all he knows
Now he's on a killing spree....
No Johnny, no, don't do it man
Shot him...
Also in: ▤ Punk Songs

1994

#59 Biohazard Remember 1994 · Album · State Of the World Address · Warner Bros. # 9 45595-2 · USA
Annotation
Biohazard, an American New York Hardcore band, which incorporated elements of Rap Metal and Crossover Thrash, formed in Brooklyn, New York, in 1987. The album State of the World Address featured Billy Graziadei (guitar, vocals), Evan Seinfeld (bass, vocals), Bobby Hambel (guitar), and Danny Schuler (drums).

The song "Remember" (Warner Bros. Records # 9 45595-2) released in 1994, referenced issues that frequently appeared in the post-war era (especially in the 1980s). Firstly, it sought to overcome the Vietnam syndrome. As suggested in the title, the narrated wanted people to remember those who "served in Vietnam" . He declared that "from our generation to you...respect is long overdue" to the Vietnam veterans. Secondly, the lyrics looked at the treatment of veterans back in the US: "they spit on you now, we'll spit back for you" . Thirdly, it turned to the psychological impact of war on the veterans - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - "explosions shake the dreams in your head at night in bed...he still sees blood...try to numb the pain" . Finally, the song also referenced prisoners of war, suggesting that they could still be in Vietnam, and that they have sadly missed out on their children growing up: "P.O.W-M.I.A., your kids are now full grown, with the love and pride you should have known" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Here's a dedication
To the men and women who served in Vietnam
From our generation to you and your family
Respect is long overdue
Memories of blood, red, white, blue
Orange skies at night, southeast Asia knew
You were called to serve and you did it well
For us you've made a round-trip through hell
Wars within wars, within wars, within wars
To survive you made your own laws
Every day and night to stay alive
You kept your head down and your powder dry
Memories of families
We remember!
Now you live asking God why
He didn't take you when your brothers all died
Explosions shake the dreams in your head at night in bed
Don't wake him up or you'll end up dead
Try to understand his pain
He still sees blood stains that remain
In his heart and mind, try to numb the pain
Memories of families
It's God I've known
Take me home
People think they understand
Watching TV back on quiet land
They spit on you now, we'll spit back for you
Our hearts, our voice, gift of our hands
What can they do for you
And those who served and those who died
We pay respect to the families who still cry
We remember!
Memories of families
We remember!
Your kids are now full grown
With the love and pride you should have known
Back when your country brought you home
Still now you fight the tears and face your fears each day
But the horrors of fact won't go away
For 2300 MIA's or POW's to this day
We remember and pray for you
Show full lyrics (42 lines) ▾

1995

#60 Vilently Ill Viet Nam Vet 1995 · EP · Split · Knot # KM-002 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group Vilently Ill, released the song "Viet Nam Vet" (Knot Music # KM-002), out of South Haven, Michigan, USA. The back of the sleeve said: "the material on...this split EP was recorded in mono between August '94 and '95 on cassette on home stereo. Yes, the guitars sound like blown speakers, but that's exactly how it's supposed to sound. If you demand music with professionally cleaned sound, go to the mall and buy a Green Day, Offspring or other fake corporate punk album instead". The song presented a Vietnam veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "lost in battles fought long ago". The vet became addicted to drugs: "fucked up on pills and booze, screwed up life".
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Knot Music, PO Box 501, South Haven, MI 49090-0501 USA, "first pressing: 500"; the Vilently Ill side of a split EP, label marked B with a photo of a child aiming a rifle.

The front sleeve, over an 18th-century engraving of a hospital scene, lists intro :20, "Viet Nam Vet" :34, "Kill for Fun" :17, "Fashion Sucks" :27, "Hidden Agenda" :25, "Your Profits" :47, "Chained" :09, "Govt. Sponsored Devastation" :35, "Refuse to Fight" :15, "In the Name of Christ" :25 and "Vilently Ill" :15.

The back prints all the lyrics; the insert, headed by a gas-mask photo and the "Slovenian proverb" "Speak the truth - but leave immediately thereafter", states that the Vilently Ill side was recorded in mono between August '94 and January '95 on cassette on a home stereo, thanks Pneumatic Values, Old Style Beer and Rattlehead Studios, and is signed "Vilently Ill - March 1995". [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Lost in battles fought long ago
What year is it? You don't even know
Viet Nam vet - a life erased
Viet Nam vet - a life debased
Also in: ▤ Punk Songs

1997

#61 Wu-Tang Clan A Better Tomorrow 1997 · Album · Wu-Tang Forever · Loud # 07863-66905-1 · USA
Annotation
Notes
Another influential and prominent East Coast Hip Hop group (or collective), formed in 1992 in Staten Island, New York, USA, with a line-up of successful and well-known hip hop artists, including: RZA (MC, production), GZA/Genius (MC), Method Man (MC, production), Raekwon (MC), Ghostface Killah (MC, executive producer), Inspectah Deck (MC, production), U-God (MC), Ol' Dirty Bastard (MC, production, 1992-2004), Masta Killa (MC, 1993-present), and Cappadonna (MC, 2007-present). They released two songs referencing the Vietnam War: "Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber" (1993) and "A Better Tomorrow" (1997).
The song "A Better Tomorrow" (Loud Records # 07863-66905-1) used the portrayal of a Vietnam War veteran, suffering from PTSD, as a metaphor for violence and tension in city communities: "the projects, lifeless like a Vietnam vet, constant war, sever threats of enemy conquest... streets are like a jungle" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Yo, in the housing, thousands seen early graves
Victims of worldly ways, memories stays engraved
All my live brothers is locked down with high numbers
The young hunger, blind to these lies, they die younger
In this New World, the Order slaughter men, women and children
Ten feet gates surround the building, keep us sealed in
The projects, lifeless like a Vietnam vet
Constant war, sever threats of enemy conquest
Crooked cops comb my building complex that's in the rumble
Streets are like a jungle, can't let my cypher crumble
#62 Larry Barkemeyer 20 Years of Tears 1997 · Album · LDB · USA
Notes
LDB Productions / Bark Moss Enterprises, Cottage Grove, Oregon, (c) 1997; all songs written and arranged by Larry Barkemeyer, including "Twenty Years of Tears", "Ghost of My Youth", "Ground Attack" and "Borderline"; recorded at Woodshed Recording Studio. [From Country Joe McDonald's war-songs list]
Themes: Vet PTSD
Genre: ♪ Country

2001

#63 Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards Vietnam 2001 · Album · Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards · Hellcat # 80438-1 · USA
Notes
Punk Rock band formed in 2001 in Campbell, Calforinia, USA, featuring Lars Frederiksen (vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, slide guitar), Big Jay Bastard (bass), Scott Abels [aka Ski Mask] (drums), Unknown Bastard [Gordy Carbone] (backing vocals). The song "Vietnam" (Hellcat Records # 80438-2) reiterated the stereotypes of veteran back home, mistreated, ignored, and suffering from PTSD, typically seen in post-war songs.
Lyrics
English
When i came back from saigon
Everybody turned their heads
No one put their hand out
No one shared their bread
I lost an eye, a job, and a brother too...
Now I'm running down the streets of Birmingham
25 years since Vietnam...
And I'm doing the best I can
Also in: ▤ Punk Songs

2005

#64 The Brodecks C'mon Vietnam 2005 · Album · Happiest Nuclear Winter · Never Break # NBR 02-14 · USA
#65 Embrace The End Fathers Right Hand (My Lai) 2005 · Album · Counting Hallways to the Left · Abacus # CR13 · USA
Annotation
Deathcore metal group formed in 1999 in Sacramento, California, USA. Released in 2005, the hardcore metal song "The Fathers Right Hand (My Lai)" (Abacus Recordings # CR13) told the story, through violent lyrics, of a Vietnam veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): "reliving the horror each night, a victim lost forever" - possibly of My Lai, based on the song title. It also alluded to drugs use: "Even through morphine eyes...now carry this addiction" . Both drugs and PTSD are themes frequently found in post-Vietnam War songs.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Through every star-spangled eye the line becomes blurred
With finger on the trigger reliving the horror each night
A victim lost forever, a burning effigy of who you once were
Quench this ineffable thirst to be whole again
Blind leading the blind, raped and castrated
The blind leading the betrayed, the pain of chasing phantom limbs
Even through morphine eyes you can still see what's inside
Now carry this addiction, a monument to a heroic heart
To be whole again, all this time...bleed me of this agony
#66 James Blundell Postcards From Saigon 2005 · Single · Revenge · Australia
Annotation
Singer/songwriter James Blundell, born on 8 December 1964 in Australia, released the song "Postcards From Saigon" (Revenge Records), as a tribute to Australian veterans of the Vietnam War, inspired by the US invasion of Iraq, ongoing at that time.1 The back of the CD single said that the proceeds from this release would be donated to the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, stating that: "The VVAA NSW Branch is a welfare charity group which provides welfare support and claims assistance to all veterans and their dependents. The proceeds of the sale of this CD are being used to help build the new National Museum at Philip Island, and to establish the 'James Blundell' Veteran's Children Bursary Fund".2 The narrator told of his brother who "went to Vietnam for Harold Holt and Uncle Same" - Holt being a reference to the Australian Prime Minister (1966-67). His brother's "best friend faded in his arms" , and so "he felt guilty coming home" . His brother struggled in the post-war period: "can you help to ease the pain" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Charity single for the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (NSW Branch); inspired by the Iraq war. Narrated by a veteran's brother.
Lyrics
English
My brother had a a dream
My brother wore the jungle green
My brother went to Vietnam
For Harold Holt and Uncle Sam
He sent postcards from Saigon
I'm alright but it's all wrong
Three postcards from Saigon
My brother kissed the face of death
My brother drew the deepest breath
His best friend faded in his arms
He felt guilty coming home
He sent postcards from Saigon
I'm alright but it's all wrong
Three postcards from Saigon
In the killing fields the bullets sing
Purple Haze in the pouring rain
It's a military tattoo from Abel and Cain
Why must history repeat itself time and time again
My brother divorced and remarried
One summer, but two miscarried
Can you help to ease the pain
Close the circle, make him whole again
Get to know him by his name...
He sent postcards from Saigon...
Show full lyrics (25 lines) ▾
#67 The Herd I Was Only Nineteen 2005 · Album · The Sun Never Sets · Elefant Traks # ACE021 · Australia
Annotation
Hip Hopcover of the song "I Was Only Nineteen" (Elefant Traks # ACE021). This group formed in 2001, Sydney, NSW, Australia. The line-up featured: Ozi Batla (MC), Urthboy (MC), Berzerkatron (MC), Unkle Ho (drum programming), Traksewt (drum programming, accordion, clarinet), Sulo (drum programming, guitar), Toe Fu (guitar), Rok Poshtya (bass), Jane Tyrell (vocals), Alejandro (laptop, vocals), and Snapsuit (production). The song dealt with the negative impact of war on the soldier. Written by John Schumann, born 18 May 1953 in Adelaide, Australia, leader singer of Redgum, formed in 1975, Adelaide, and disbanded in 1990. As discussed above, John Schumann based it largely on the experiences of the Vietnam war veteran Mick Storen (his brother-in-law).1 This song provided an important representation of the loss of innocence for a nineteen year old, whose life changed because of the war. It brought attention to the plight of the Australian Vietnam veteran.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Cover of the Redgum song (1983).
Lyrics
English
Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets
The sixth battalion was the next to tour and it was me who drew the card
We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean
And there's me in me slouch hat with me SLR and greens
God help me - I was only nineteen
From Vung Tau riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months
And we made our tents a home, V.B. and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
And night time's just a jungle dark and a barking M.16?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me - I was only nineteen
A four week operation, when each step can mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself
But you wouldn't let your mates down 'til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about somethin' else
And then someone yelled out "Contact", and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar
And Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon
God help me - he was goin' home in June
And I can still see Frankie, drinkin' tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec. leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
'Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row
And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me, I was only 19
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
Any why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what's this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me - I was only 19
Show full lyrics (37 lines) ▾
Genre: ♪ Hip Hop

2007

#68 David Rovics When Johnny Came Marching Home 2007 · Album · Halliburton Boardroom Massacre · Mi5 · USA
Themes: Vet PTSD
#69 Normie Rowe Still in Saigon 2007 · Album · Missing in Action · Not On Label # NR 001 · Australia
Annotation

Normie Rowe, pop rock artist and Australian Vietnam War veteran, born 1 February 1947 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He served in Vietnam from January 1969 to February 1970. Rowe was reported to have been the protaganist in the song " Smiley " by Ronnie Burns , conscripted to fight in the Vietnam War. Johnny Young , the songwriter, said on ABC-TV’s Love Is In The Air that "before he left, he was really happy-go-lucky, fun-filled young fella. When he came back, he changed" . Rowe released this collection of post-Vietnam songs, presenting the veteran / military soldier's perspective, which according to his website was "14 tracks relating to Normie’s experiences as a Vietnam war veteran" . This included a cover of "Smiley" , and a cover of "Still in Saigon" by The Charlie Daniels Band . The title song "Missing in Action" was about the impact of the war on a veteran back in Australia: "he's changed... he's not the same... thirty years have past" , probably containing some biographical elements.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Album of 14 songs on Rowe's Vietnam service and its aftermath (2007, NR 001, produced by Shane Flew at The House of Hits, Manly). Cover of the Charlie Daniels Band song.

2008

#70 John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew Khe Sanh (Long Tan Version) 2008 · Album · Behind the Lines · ABC [Australia] # 1778130 · Australia
Annotation

John Schumann, born in Adelaide, South Australia (18 May 1953), released this album which focused on war, containing First and Second World War songs, as well as some other well-known Vietnam tracks, including Schumann's famous composition " I Was Only 19 ", which he performed as a member of the group Redgum (1983). The album featured a cover of "Khe Sanh", originally by Cold Chisel. However, it was renamed "Long Tan Version", as the reference to Khe Sanh was historically inaccurate - Australian forces were not involved in that battle. Thus Schumann changed it to Long Tan, the site of the famous battle involving Australian and New Zealand forces on 18 August 1966. The composer of the song, Don Walker, said that: "he rang me up one day a long time ago and asked if I minded if he did that... I said not only was it absolutely okay with me but good on you". Also on the album were covers of "Mothers, Daughters, Wives" by Judy Small, "Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle, and " Rachel " by Russell Morris. Other members of the Vagabond Crew are Hugh McDonald, Dave Folley, Kat Kraus, & Mark Kraus. The front cover featured a photo of an Australian First World War era soldier. Note that Schumann also released the Vietnam War song " Safe Behind the Wire " (1988) as a solo artist. While discussing this album, Schumann said that: We don't leave people behind. Dead or alive or injured, when it's home time, everybody gets on the chopper....We had 50,000 men and women who served in Vietnam and we had six MIAs. The Americans had thousands - what does that tell you?"

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Album of war songs (First and Second World Wars and Vietnam), ABC Music / Universal, 2008. Cover of the Cold Chisel song with Khe Sanh changed to Long Tan, with Don Walker's blessing, because Australian forces did not fight at Khe Sanh.
#71 John Schumann and The Vagabond Crew I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) 2008 · Album · Behind the Lines · ABC [Australia] # 1778130 · Australia
Annotation

John Schumann, born in Adelaide, South Australia (18 May 1953), released this album which focused on war, containing First and Second World War songs, as well as some other well-known Vietnam tracks, including Schumann's famous composition " I Was Only 19 ", which he performed as a member of the group Redgum (1983). The album featured a cover of "Khe Sanh", originally by Cold Chisel. However, it was renamed "Long Tan Version", as the reference to Khe Sanh was historically inaccurate - Australian forces were not involved in that battle. Thus Schumann changed it to Long Tan, the site of the famous battle involving Australian and New Zealand forces on 18 August 1966. The composer of the song, Don Walker, said that: "he rang me up one day a long time ago and asked if I minded if he did that... I said not only was it absolutely okay with me but good on you". Also on the album were covers of "Mothers, Daughters, Wives" by Judy Small, "Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle, and " Rachel " by Russell Morris. Other members of the Vagabond Crew are Hugh McDonald, Dave Folley, Kat Kraus, & Mark Kraus. The front cover featured a photo of an Australian First World War era soldier. Note that Schumann also released the Vietnam War song " Safe Behind the Wire " (1988) as a solo artist. While discussing this album, Schumann said that: We don't leave people behind. Dead or alive or injured, when it's home time, everybody gets on the chopper....We had 50,000 men and women who served in Vietnam and we had six MIAs. The Americans had thousands - what does that tell you?"

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Album of war songs (First and Second World Wars and Vietnam), ABC Music / Universal, 2008. New recording of the Redgum song (1983) by its writer.

2009

#72 Delta Force II Personal Vietnam 2009 · Album · Roku # ROKU-034 · Finland
Annotation
Post-war Crossover Thrash band, formed in 2002, in Jyväskylä, Finland. The group disbanded on 15 October 2016. This album featured the song "Personal Vietnam" (Roku Records # RNR-DF2), narrated from the perspective of a Vietnam veteran, "I remember Vietnam, the war was hard" . It contained references to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "part of a mere dream, part of the nightmare tormented" . The song also referenced the Viet Cong - (or "VC") - the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Vietnamese: Mặt trận Dân tộc Giải phóng Miền Nam Việt Nam) (NLFSV or NLF), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Band credits (pseudonyms): Vocals Majuri Harmageddon; Guitar Vivian 'Wildchild' Danger; Bass Subcomandante Hevimake; Drums Allu Witchhunter. Recorded by Riku Rubiini; drums recorded/mixed/mastered by Arttu Sarvanne. A 2009 CD (Not On Label, release 2103074) compiles all Delta Force II material, tracks 1-17 from the Personal Vietnam LP recorded 2009. Title track of the Roku Records LP, narrated by a veteran haunted by nightmares of the war. Co-released by Hockey Champ Records (HCR-006), Roku Records (ROKU-034), Nightstick Justice Records (HIT-009) and Raakanaama (RNR-DF2).
Lyrics
English
Viet Cong corridors is really familiar to me...
I remember Vietnam
The war was hard
And the party was wild, hangover mornings in the jungle...
I remember Vietnam
I remember Vietnam
A lot of buddies went, a lot went to booze
Part of a mere dream, part of the nightmare tormented
I remember Vietnam
I remember Vietnam

2010-present

More than forty years after the war, veterans' trauma remains a subject for metal and punk bands, rappers and singer-songwriters, often passed down as a family memory. Junta Cadre's 2020 recordings are among the most recent.

2012

#73 Rezet Combat Shock 2012 · Album · Civic Nightmares · Twilight Vertrieb # 784-2712 · Germany
Notes
"Combat Shock" - agent orange, PTSD
Lyrics
English
Agent Orange, bombs
Sanity is lost
Lost deep inside the war field
In a blood red Vietnam
Hand grenades explode, my rifle to reload
Firing, shooting, slaying
Aiming at my victim’s throat
Deaf because of pain, I’m gonna go insane
Can’t decide what’s right or wrong, firing again
They tell me to stop, to unload the gun
But everything’s too late
‘Cause now I’m shooting everyone
They tell me to leave
Cut my hair and achieve
Something in my life, cause all they know is I’m a thief
They tell me to stop, to unload the gun
But that is too late
I’m shooting everyone
Fire in the hole
‘Cause Frankie is gone insane
And he’s out of control
Combat shock is coming
And no one will escape
Combat shock
The fight has begun
After the war and the work that I’ve done
Combat shock
The work as a man
Who was put in danger in Vietnam
Combat shock
A stranger back home
Feel so guilty, feel so alone
Combat shock
Eternal war in my head
‘Til I’m dead
So you were brave enough to die
Made a thousand families cry
And now you’re coming back to yours
Although you’re wondering why
Your baby; a deformed thing
No job, no life
Nothing will be the same
It’s all connected with gore
Show full lyrics (44 lines) ▾
Themes: Combat PTSD

2013

#74 Sid Orr He Can't Go Back Home (From Vietnam) 2013 · Album · Vietnam: The Journey · Not On Label · USA
Annotation
Sid Orr - he joined the marines in 1966 after high school, and served in the Vietnam War, with the Marine Helicopter Squadron (HMM-362) Ugly Angels at Phu Bai, Vietnam from 1969-1970. He currently lives in Woodstock, Georgia, USA. He is also in a group called The Tunnel Rats.1 He released this 2013 album of patriotic country songs about the Vietnam War. It included the song "As Long as That Black Granite Stands" about the memorial wall. This one took a religious perspective, focusing on a chaplain in combat in Vietnam, K.I.A.: "he grabbed his chest, his life flashed there in the water and the blood" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
#75 XEX Vietnam Vet 2013 · Archival · Change · Dark Entries # DE-043 · USA

2014

#76 JP Williams The Wall Song 2014 · Single · The Wall Song · Not On Label · USA
Annotation
JP Williams is a singer/songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. He released the song "The Wall Song" , written by songwriters Mitch Townley and Brad Dunse, inspired by a poem called "The Spirit of the Wall" by Judy Gorman King.12 The song is narrated from the perspective of one of the names on the wall, who observed his friend visiting him, "with that silver in your hair" . The narrator is "all of 21...forever young at the Wall" . The narrator recalled joining the army, expressing patriotic sentiment: "we were proud to serve our country" . The narrator was then "shipped...off to 'Nam" . He recalled the heat, mud, blood, and death. He was K.I.A., and so his friend returned to the US alone, to a country that could not comprehend the impact of the war on the veterans.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
When you were searchin' for my name today I saw you standing there man
You look different with that silver in your hair
Me I haven't aged a bit, still all of 21, that's the thing about us spirits
We're forever young at the wall, here at the wall
We were proud to serve our country when called by Uncle Sam
Then more than a little anxious, when they shipped us off to 'Nam
Remember all the heat and bugs, days marchin' through the mud
Constant gunfire, smell of death, sight of all that blood
Some gave all, the names carved in this wall
But it's a wall of love, a wall that heals, a wall that touches and helps
You feel the faces of more than 50,000 names
Feel the wall, be forever changed
When we finally got the orders sayin' we could go back home
They were lookin' for my body so you made the trip alone
You came back to a country that couldn't comprehend how so many boys that left returned as messed up men
Who served with all the names here on the wall....
So as you stand there weepin' with your fingers on my name
Share with those cute grand kids the reason for this place
To restore some stolen gratitude and dignity
This granite wall of honor that holds my memory...
It's wall that heals, a wall that touches and helps you feel the faces of more than 50,000 names
Feel the wall, be forever changed, feel the wall...
Show full lyrics (23 lines) ▾

2015

#77 The Reel Banditos Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome 2015 · Album · Indochina (2015 Expanded Edition) · Not On Label · Germany
Themes: Vet PTSD
#78 Lee Kernaghan I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) 2015 · Album · Spirit of the Anzacs · ABC [Australia] # 0602547172938 · Australia
Annotation

Country artist, born 15 April 1964 in Corryong, Victoria, Australia. He released this album ( ABC Music # 0602547172938) to mark the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landing of Australian and New Zealand soldiers at Gallipoli during the First World War. It largely contained songs about the First World War and Second World War, but also Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. The songs referencing the Vietnam conflict were "Spirit of the Anzacs", "Tell Carmelita", and "The Unbearable Price of War". The deluxe edition of the album came with a cover of " I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green) ", originally released by Redgum (1983), composed by John Schumann. For the title song "Spirit of the Anzacs", Kernaghan joined forces with Australian-based artists Guy Sebastian, Sheppard, Jon Stevens, Jessica Mauboy, Shannon Noll, and Meg Washington, for the release of a charity single. The song was a patriotic tribute which referenced several wars and roles. In the case of Vietnam, it focused on the nurses: "she's a nurse in Vietnam... she's all of them, she's one of us... the spirit of the Anzacs". The song "Tell Carmelita" was narrated from the perspective of a soldier in Vietnam, missing his sweetheart, centred around the famous and iconic Battle of Long Tan that took place on 18 August 1966. A small number, approximately 108 Australian and New Zealand servicemen, defended their position against a force of around 2,500 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese regulars, possibly preventing an attack against Nui Dat, the base of the 1st Australian Task Force : "you've already heard about Long Tan, we stumbled on some VC on patrol". During the attack he hoped that he would return to Australia: "I wish I was there, Camelita beside me. The song "The Unbearable Price of War", a duet with Lisa McCune, kicked-off with helicopter sound-effects, and a soldier writing to his parents from "Vung Tau, at the Australian field hospital", after his APC (a tank) drove over a mine: "I'm lucky to be alive". The narration then moved to a female working at the hospital writing to her parents that it's worse than she thought: "the triage, the chaos, the blood and khaki".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Deluxe edition bonus track; cover of the Redgum song.

2016

#79 Graham Rodger Fifty Thousand Australian Sons 2016 · Album · They Answered the Call · Not On Label # AM0012 · Australia
Annotation

Country musician from Queensland, Australia. Retiring as an ambulance driver in the 1990s, he turned to music, releasing dozens of country albums, with "Australia and Australians as the major themes for his ballads", and a focus on the "traditions cemented into our culture by the late Slim Dusty". The album "They Answered the Call" had a military / war theme, focused on Australia's role in World War One, World War Two, the Vietnam War, Afghanistan, amongst other conflicts. Specific Vietnam-related songs including a version of "The Battle of Long Tan" and "The Battle of Coral", discussed above, as well as "Missing in Action", and "Fifty Thousand Australian Sons". Several songs were about veterans, which did not reference a specific war. The song "Missing in Action" provided a post-war look at the impact of the war on a father whose son never returned from the Vietnam War, presumably killed in action (K.I.A.), or as the government / military informed him back then: "missing in action was all they would say... his number and name". The father was watching a parade, and when "the Vietnam veterans march by", the memories flooded back: "our young men where called to the 'Nam", with the narrator noting that "you can't begin to image the horrors of war". Also note the use of the term "diggers" - as discussed, a military slang term for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand, which came to prominence during World War One. The song "Fifty Thousand Australian Sons" focused on the treatment of Vietnam War veterans on their return to Australia, which noted the lack of cheers, and that the "bureaucratic speeches have a darkened sombre tone". Decades later, in 1987 at the Welcome Home Parade when it was "time to make amends", finally the "streamers and confetti came down". The title of the song was of course a reference to the number of Australian that served in the Vietnam conflict, although the number is thought to have been higher, at around 60,000+. The song also contained a reference to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "the jungle vines in the.. heat of 'Nam weighed heavy on the minds".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Self-released. The 1987 Welcome Home parade.
Lyrics
the jungle vines in the... heat of 'Nam weighed heavy on the minds
#80 The Sinking Teeth Saigon 2016 · Album · Songs From the Bottom of the Lake · Not On Label # TST02 · Australia
Annotation
Indie rock group, formed in 2011 in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia. Its line-up consisted of Julian Doan, Adrian Van Bloom, and Nick Manuell. The song "Saigon" looked at the impact of the war on a Vietnam vet, suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "a flash back to youth pulled you away, in a crowded boat you crossed the waves" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Self-released, 11 November 2016.
Lyrics
English
Your hands are weathered and dry
You wiped down the walls
And you bleached the sky
A pain in your back since 87
The roses have since never looked the same
And unpaid service just for the love
Us kids are fine, us kids are fine
You say there's not enough money
And not enough to keep the colour in your eyes
Come back and
Continue to colour
To the outlines
Of our lives
Even though we talk it's not the same
I need to refresh the memory of your face
Dust lies in every crease you made
A flash back to youth pulled you away
In a crowded boat you crossed the waves
Old blood at home, new life was made
They never knew how far you'd stray
Only to return to your birth place
Come back and
Continue to colour
To the outlines
Of our lives
I tried so hard
To make it easier on you
Show full lyrics (28 lines) ▾

2020

#81 Kjøttkvern Vietnam-Syndromet 2020 · Album · Vietnam · Scars of Eternity # SOER-075 · Russia
#82 Lil Wayne Bing James 2020 · Album · Funeral · Young Money # B0030882-02 · USA
Annotation
Artist background
Lil Wayne, influential Southern Hip Hop / Gangsta Rap artist, born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. on 27 September 1982 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, said to have sold 120m+ records worldwide. He frequently referenced the Vietnam War, as a metaphor for violence, including: "Blood Line" (2002), "Problem Solver" (2006) (with Birdman and DJ Khaled), "Wasted" (2009), "Thinking Bout You" (2015), "Bing James" (2020) (with Jay Rock), and "Wild Dogs" (2020).
This album featured two tracks referencing the Vietnam War. The song "Wild Dogs" (Young Money Entertainment # B0030882-02) used Vietnam as a comparison to violence in the US: "bust up in your home... home sweet homicide... it's war like Vietnam" . The song "Bing James" , featuring Jay Rock (Gangsta Rap artist, born Johnny Reed McKinzie, Jr. on 31 March 1985 in Watts, California, USA) referenced Vietnam, used as a metaphor for flashbacks (usually associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "we from the projects, we got that PTSD like some Vietnam vets" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Motion picture shit, (Woo) at you with my .40 Glock
When I'm on my savage shit, bodies on that blacktop (Yeah)
Weapons in the stash box, (Yeah) keep a couple lamb chops (Yeah)
All we serve is hearses, you don't get no ambulance ride
All we know is big B's, yeah, you know, that's gang, gang
This ain't what you want, you don't wanna lose your brain, brain
Focused on this bag now, yeah we from the projects (Yeah)
We got that PTSD like some Vietnam vets
Miss me with that bullshit, I'm just tryna make a play
White Lamborghini truck, bitches call it yola-yay
Sharp as razor blades, Smith N' Wesson in my breakaway
Peep the different shit from behind these Aviator shades
#83 Post Nebbia Vietnam 2020 · Album · Canale Paesaggi · Dischi Sotterranei / La Tempesta Dischi # STT0320 / LTD-146LP/20 · Italy
Notes
"Vietnam". From Italy
Notes
Limited edition of 250 copies (LP). Written, produced, recorded and mixed by Carlo Corbellini; mixed by Exit Exit; mastered by Giovanni Versari at La Maestà. Also a 2020 cassette and 2025 LP repress. Uses a 'Vietnam flashback' as a metaphor for waking to reality; from the LP 'Canale Paesaggi', limited to 250 copies.
Lyrics
English
I'm about to have a Vietnam flashback
And I don't want to know the truth
The alarm clock brings me back to reality, but it's late
And they've been waiting for me for a while
I'm about to have a Vietnam flashback
And I don't want to know the truth
The alarm clock brings me back to reality, but it's late
And they've been waiting for me for a while
Italian
Sto per avere un flashback del Vietnam
E non voglio sapere la verità
La sveglia mi riporta alla realtà, ma è tardi
E mi aspettano da un po'
Sto per avere un flashback del Vietnam
E non voglio sapere la verità
La sveglia mi riporta alla realtà, ma è tardi
E mi aspettano da un po'
Show full lyrics (19 lines) ▾
#84–88 Junta Cadre Vietnam Forever 2020 · Album · No Rent # NRR141 · USA
5 of the 9 songs from this album in the archive are in this collection
Show the full entries ▾ · Release page →
#84 Junta Cadre Vietnam Forever / Too Far Gone 2020 · Album · Vietnam Forever · No Rent # NRR141 · USA
Credited on the record as Junta Cadre ft. Deterge & The Rita.
Notes
Track A2 of the cassette Vietnam Forever (No Rent NRR141). [From the cassette and lyric sheet]
#85 Junta Cadre Memory Sick 2020 · Album · Vietnam Forever · No Rent # NRR141 · USA
#86 Junta Cadre Memory Sick 2020 · Album · Vietnam Forever · No Rent # NRR141 · USA
Notes
Track B3 of the cassette Vietnam Forever (No Rent NRR141). [From the cassette and lyric sheet]
#87 Junta Cadre The Guilt of Coming Home 2020 · Album · Vietnam Forever · No Rent # NRR141 · USA
Credited on the record as Junta Cadre ft. Leo Brochu.
Notes
Track B4 of the cassette Vietnam Forever (No Rent NRR141). [From the cassette and lyric sheet]
#88 Junta Cadre Scars Over the Landscape 2020 · Album · Vietnam Forever · No Rent # NRR141 · USA
Credited on the record as Junta Cadre ft. Sam Torres.
Notes
Track B5 of the cassette Vietnam Forever (No Rent NRR141). [From the cassette and lyric sheet]

2022

#89 Pusha T I Pray for You 2022 · Album · It's Almost Dry · Good # B0034898-02 · USA
Annotation
Pusha T, Gangsta Rap artist, born Terrence LeVarr Thornton on 13 May 1977 in Bronx, New York, USA. The song "I Pray for You" (Good # B0034898-02) referenced Vietnam, used as a metaphor for flashbacks (usually associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "Vietnam flashbacks, I get triggered by a sniff" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Tell me what I missed
New designer drugs and emotions I don't get
I don't Hellcat, still paddle when I shift
Vietnam flashbacks, I get triggered by a sniff
Today's top fives only strengthenin' my myth
Belong on Rushmore just from chiselin' a brick

2023

#90 Sarcoptes Massacre at My Lai 2023 · Album · Prayers to Oblivion · Transcending Obscurity # TOR163 · USA
Annotation
Symphonic Black Metal group, formed in 2005 in Sacramento, California, USA, featuring Garret Garvey (vocals, drums), Sean Zimmerman (guitar, bass, keyboard), and Steven B. (guitar, vocals). The song "Massacre at My Lai" (Transcending Obscurity Records # TOR163) took an anti-war position, through the recalling of the My Lai Massacre: "just another footnote in the history of man’s crimes" - this was the mass murder of between 300-500 civilians in the South Vietnamese area known as "Pinkville", containing the hamlets, known as My Lai 4 and My Khe 4, and throughout the area of Song My, by US forces on 16 March 1968. It provided a detailed description of the event: "the command was simple, leave none alive" and the killing of civilians: "screams... endless, children cried, herded for slaughter... new born and the elders" .

The second section told the story of Varnado Simpson (7 October 1948 – 4 May 1997), who admitted to murdering around 10-20 people, including women and children at My Lai, although in various interviews he gave a slightly different account on the numbers. In 1977 his son was accidentally killed by a stray bullet. Simpson said: "I looked at him, his face was like the same face of the child that I had killed...this is punishment". He said that he suffered greatly from PTSD, and in 1997, he committed suicide.123 So, in the lyrics, the narrator considered the guilt and thoughts of Simpson, with a description of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, often connected in songs to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "nights are without rest... drugs won’t stop the nightmares... unpunished by the laws of men, yet imprisoned in your mind" . It noted the death of his son: "a stray bullet... are the sins of the father visited upon the son" . It concluded with his suicide: "you pulled the trigger and none mourned your death" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
At the break of dawn
Fires rained from the sky
The command was simple
Leave none alive
The screams seemed endless
As the children cried
Herded for slaughter
They watched their mothers die
Whence comes this madness
Born of impotent rage
The daughters ravaged
And the monk was slain
What devilry
Works in the hearts of men
To twist their minds towards evil
In so short a span
Horror on hell’s doorstep
Massacre at My Lai
In a hail of gunfire
Bodies trampled in the mud
Beneath the weight of the dying
Suffocating on blood
With sordid pleasure
They struck down all in their path
The newborn and the elders
None exempt from their wrath
The soldiers took turns
But not content with violations
With knives and bayonets
They worked ghastly mutilations
The homes were turned to cinders
The animals lay still
Only a remnant of mourners
For the five hundred that were killed
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Tet
Sarcoptes
The Fall of Constantinople
Sarcoptes
The Alcott
The National
Returning from the war
A withered shadow of a man
You live upon regret
The actions were so simple
The training came to fore
As your “mind just went”
Faces of the dead
Staring in the dark
Fingers clawing at your flesh
Everyday seems endless
The years just melt away
The nights are without rest
Unpunished by the laws of men
Yet imprisoned in your mind
When you took the lives of the innocent
Was it your own self that died
The drugs won’t stop the nightmares
Your pleas can’t stifle the screams
“These are the photos of those I’ve killed
On display as tokens of my guilt”
When the fifes and drums are played
And the calls for war begin
Know that this has happened once
And will happen yet again
Just another footnote
In the history of man’s crimes
Nineteen hundred and sixty eight
In the village of My Lai
Returning from the war
A withered shadow of a man
You live upon regret
The actions were so simple
The training came to fore
As your “mind just went”
Faces of the dead
Staring in the dark
Fingers clawing at your flesh
Everyday seems endless
The years just melt away
The nights are without rest
A stray bullet
Or the hand of God
Are the sins of the father
Visited upon the son
Shuttered in the dark
Far from the haunt of men
You pulled the trigger
And none mourned your death
At the break of dawn
Fires rained from the sky
They did their duty
And left none alive
What devilry
Works in the hearts of men
To twist their minds towards evil
Since the world began
Horror on hell’s doorstep
Massacre at My Lai
Show full lyrics (100 lines) ▾
#91 Just Before Dawn When Sanity Cracks 2023 · Album · A War Too Far · Raw Skull # RSR 064 · Sweden
Annotation
As above, Death Metal group formed in 2012, its members included Anders Biazzi (guitar, bass), Brynjar Helgetun (drums), and Jonny Pettersson (guitar, vocals). The group is based in Stockholm, Sweden.1. This is the second Vietnam War-themed album the group released in 2023, titled "A War Too Far" (Raw Skull Recordz). This follows up on the album "Battle-Sight Zeroing".
Notes
1| Innocence Lost
2| Operation Arc Light
3| La Drang
4| A War Too Far
5| The Odyssey of Echo Company
6| The Gulf of Tonkin
7| We Few
8| Phase Line Green
9| When Sanity Cracks
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: PTSD

2025

#92 Lil Darkie Vietnam 2025 · Album · USD · Not On Label · USA
Notes
"Vietnam" - Hip Hop
Lyrics
English
Check, check
God damn, turn up the fuckin' microphone
North Korea (Vietnam)
Palestine (Vietnam)
Germany (Vietnam)
Vietnam (Vietnam)
Israel (Vietnam)
Taiwan (Vietnam)
Lebanon (Vietnam)
Vietnam (Vietnam)
Yeah, bitch, we're goin' off to war (yeah)
Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps
Your freedom back home is what I'm fightin' for
When I get back, politicians cut VA support
I have PTSD from seeing bodies on the floor
Every Independence Day I'm terrified of fireworks
Some of my friends died on an overseas tour
I know veterans living on the street
Dirt poor, what's it for?....
/ They told me we was tryna find nukes /But the oil in the ground the real reason that we shoot
Our highest priority
The safety of the nation
By censoring your speech and gathering your information
Donald Trump golfin', eating like a fat pig
Fighting with each other, sucking Uncle Sam's fat dick
Kill the Nazis, now you wanna throw your hand up, bitch?
To fighting for your freedom to be just another piece of shit
Fighting all on social media
And never change a thing
Fuck an eagle in the sky
Fuck a left and right wing
Fuck America
And fuck everybody that's inside
For us to be free, how many people gotta die?
North Korea (Vietnam)
Palestine (Vietnam)
Germany (Vietnam)
Vietnam (Vietnam)
Israel (Vietnam)
Taiwan (Vietnam)
Lebanon (Vietnam)
Cambodia (Vietnam)
Hiroshima (Atom bomb)
The United States (Not for long)
(Shoot that motherfucker) war never changes
Show full lyrics (46 lines) ▾

Unknown date

#93 Gregory John Band Blame It on the Viet-Cong Single · Blame It on the Viet-Cong / Shy Away · Guild # 101 · USA
Notes
Blame It on the Viet-Cong (Gregory John Band)
Post-war - 80s?
Notes
Guild Records A 101, side A (R-7312), green label; "Blame It on the Viet-Cong" (Patzner - Thorpe), 3:23, Thor-Cro (BMI). [From the record sleeve and labels]
Themes: Vet PTSD
#94 Lillian Lopez Every Mother's Son Single · Every Mother's Son / Wish I Could Be Back There · Camco # 1972 · USA
Notes
Soul, home front perspective, PTSD, leans anti-war, religion.
Released around 1972-73.

Son home from the war for 6 months now but I don't know him.
What have they done to my son? Wakes up everynight screaming
Seen so many die. Early reference to PTSD.
Notes
Camco Enterprises #1972 A, green label, 45 RPM; "Every Mother's Son" (Lillian Lopez), time 3:03, Camco Enterprises (ASCAP); arranged and conducted by Gary Sherman; produced by Camco Enterprises, 250 West 57 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10019. [From the record sleeve and labels]
#95 Bob Storm The Suffering of a Serviceman's Wife EP · Unapproachable · Halmark # 8695 · USA
Notes
- "The Suffering of a Serviceman's Wife" (track A2)

- Label: Halmark # 8695
- Artist: unknown, attribute to Bob Storm, but that's incorrect. Female singer
- Songwriter: Karen Davis, Jerry Dee
- Musical director: Bob Storm

- Traditional pop, home front perspective
- They sent you away from me
- Expected to survive the jungle, I suffer too
- You've been wounded, fighting for something you think was a good cause
- You're half a man
- Memories of Vietnam are in your eyes (direct mention), PTSD
- What was it all for? (fighting for?)
- The hell of war, leans anti-war

- Halmark "Sound of Excellence", LH-8695, 45 RPM, High Fidelity; two songs on the side: "Unapproachable" (Lee Clark - Jerry Dee) and "The Suffering of a Serviceman's Wife" (Karen Davis - Jerry Dee); Bob Storm; musical director Jerry Dee. [From the record sleeve and labels]
#96 Various Artists The Vietnam Corps Single · The Vietnam Corps / The Long Black Wall · Kenneth A. Webb Productions Company # 9X611 · USA
Credited on the record as Ricardo Benavides, Roy D. Burgett, Frederick V. Harper, Martha Lum, Otis Mathis III, Alex Steele, David L. Williams, Nathanial Williams.
Notes
80s pop, post-war

A-side: mistreatment of vets, PTSD, Agent Orange, helicopter sound-effects
Answered the call and fought for country. But spurned on return and lied to.
There's a monunent in DC, don't forget them.

B-side: Anti-war, memoriual wall in DC.
They bravely ansered the call, sent to die for reasons they did not understand.
Victims of the times. No more unjust wars, pray for peace
Notes
Kenneth A. Webb Productions Company, Troy, Michigan; side one 9X611A, 45 RPM, stereo. Names under the title: Ricardo Benavides, Roy D. Burgett, Frederick V. Harper, Martha Lum, Otis Mathis III, Alex Steele, David L. Williams, Nathanial Williams (the label does not say whether they sing or wrote it). [From the record label]
Genre: ♪ Pop
#97 Viet Nam Vets Band No Use Pretending No More Single · No More Viet Nams / No Use Pretending No More · Olean Viet Nam Memorial # WRA3-106 · USA
Notes
- post-war pop, protest, anti-war, veteran issues, Agent Orange, PTSD
- A-side: So many died, no more war for our children
- Helicopter sound effects
- Agent Orange - still fighting the war

- B-side: we fought the war, let's talk
- Impact of PTSD, overcome Vietnam syndrome

- Olean Viet Nam Memorial Record WRA3-106, stereo, 45 RPM, made in Canada; A "No More Viet Nams" 2:55, B "No Use Pretending No More" 3:40; Viet Nam Vets Band: David R. Chapin (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Frank J. Sisson (lead guitar/bass, vocals), Daniel B. Ganoung (drums, vocals), Frank Falkowski (keyboards, vocals), Dennis Chamberlain (bass/lead guitar, vocals). No date on the label. [From the record label]
Themes: PTSD Vet
Genre: ♪ Pop
#98 Brenda Duncan The Vietnam Vet Who Cries Album · He Opened My Eyes · Hosanna # NOD-1353-LP · USA
Notes
The Vietnam Vet Who Cries (Brenda Duncan) [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]

Lyric theme data

Lyric content themes tagged on the songs in this collection — parent themes with their sub-themes (number of records). Click a theme for its definition and all records carrying it.

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Key stats

98 songs · 83 releases · 83 artists · 71 labels · 1968–2025

Time period
  • 1986 is the peak year, with eleven songs.
  • 1983–86 holds 24 of the 92 dated songs — one in four in four years.
  • 10 were released during the war years (to 1975); 88 came after.
  • Six records are undated.
Artists
  • 83 artists for 98 songs. The most represented is Junta Cadre, with five.
  • 13 of the artists are still unidentified beyond the record: no line-up, no biography.
  • One is credited to various artists — compilations and cast recordings.
Songwriters
  • Songwriter gender is recorded for 39 of the 98 songs: 34 by men, four by women and one by mixed teams — women wrote 10% of those.
  • By performer: 83 men, seven women, six mixed groups and two not identified (recorded for 98).
  • 63 named songwriters. The most often credited is John Schumann, with six.
Labels
  • 60 of the 71 labels appear exactly once; No Rent has the most, with five.
  • 16 sit on a major or well-known imprint — ABC [Australia], Epic, Columbia, Geffen, Alternative Tentacles, Asylum, Capitol, CBS. The other 82 are on independent, regional or private labels.
  • Seven are private pressings with no label at all.
Locations
  • 70 of the 98 are American. California leads with eleven, then New York nine and Florida six.
  • Adelaide accounts for four records, more than any other city; Nashville has four, New York City four.
  • 28 come from outside the US: 13 Australian, five British, three German, three Swedish, one Finnish, one Italian, and others.
Themes