Collections › Punk Songs
Punk Songs
158 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.
Dead Kennedys — “Holiday in Cambodia”, 7", picture sleeve, 1980
A collection of punk songs that reference the Vietnam War
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, 155+ songs in the punk genre.
Citation: Justin A. Brummer, Vietnam War Song Project (VWSP) — Punk Songs, vietnamwarsongproject.com/list/punk-songs, accessed 12 November 2026
Criteria & Context
1 of 2
- Criteria
The time-period of punk music means these songs fall into the post-war category. Songs included need to mention Vietnam, or specific themes especially found in the lyrics of the post-Vietnam War era, which include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), prisoners of war (P.O.W.s) and the missing in action (M.I.A.s), the plight and treatment of veterans, agent orange, napalm, and comparing Vietnam to contemporary conflicts and domestic protest. References to Vietnam War films are also present.
- Context
Punk rock, its sub-genres, and sub-cultures, emerged in the mid-1970s, coinciding with the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975, and the renaming of Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City. With a rejection of the mainstream and anti-establishment, punk bands often tackled political issues. Growing-up in the context of the Vietnam War, the collapse of South Vietnam, and the impact of the war on veterans returning home, a large number of punk songs focussed or referenced the war, often using it as a point of comparison for contemporary events.
In the 1980s, with the rise of Reagan-era 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 - punk rock and it's sub-genres played a significant role in opposing Reagan interventions, such as in El Salvador, Grenada, and Nicaragua. This opposition to government foreign policy and interventions continued in the 1990s, with the Gulf War, and in the 2000s with the invasion of Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.
Themes
1 of 3
(a) Veterans
One of the key themes found is the impact of the war on veterans, especially displayed through 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. Songs also referenced the treatment of veterans back in the US – such as lack of govt support, unemployment, unwelcome (no parades etc.), and blamed for the war and its controversies etc. Moreover, songs referencing a disabled Vietnam War veteran appeared frequently.
(b) Violence / Anti-War / Peace
Opposition to the Vietnam War, found in punk songs, often focussed on the violence and death, especially represented through the use of specific weapons, such as 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 1973.12 (3) Also frequently referenced was Agent Orange, the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical.
(c) Contemporary Events
As noted above, the Vietnam War was often used as a point of comparison to contemporary events in the post-war period, especially in punk songs, in opposition to the government and foreign interventionist policies. This is prevalent in the 1980s in songs against Reagan, and interventions in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Grenada. In the 1990s, this is seen with the Gulf War, and in the 2000s, with the invasion of Afghanistan, and Iraq War.
(d) Films:
The punk period also coincided with the first peak of Hollywood production of Vietnam War films, in 1978-1979 with The Deer Hunter (dir. Michael Cimino) and Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola). These early films sought to understand the meaning and nature of war, while coming to terms with American involvement in Vietnam, which claimed 50,000 lives. The films had a major cultural impact, and its imagery and quotes are frequently referenced in punk songs. By the mid-1980s, films like Uncommon Valor (1983), Missing in Action (1984), and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) concentrated on the US soldier as hero and the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russians as villains. This reflects the Reagan-era nationalism and the need to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome". The second wave of Vietnam War films came in 1986-1987 with Platoon (dir. Oliver Stone), Hamburger Hill (dir. John Irvin), and Full Metal Jacket (dir. Stanley Kubrick). These films claimed to show the reality of combat in Vietnam in comparison to the stylised 'message' and 'flag-waving' films which came before. Once again, the major cultural impact of these films is represented in song references.
One of the key themes found is the impact of the war on veterans, especially displayed through 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. Songs also referenced the treatment of veterans back in the US – such as lack of govt support, unemployment, unwelcome (no parades etc.), and blamed for the war and its controversies etc. Moreover, songs referencing a disabled Vietnam War veteran appeared frequently.
(b) Violence / Anti-War / Peace
Opposition to the Vietnam War, found in punk songs, often focussed on the violence and death, especially represented through the use of specific weapons, such as 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 1973.12 (3) Also frequently referenced was Agent Orange, the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical.
(c) Contemporary Events
As noted above, the Vietnam War was often used as a point of comparison to contemporary events in the post-war period, especially in punk songs, in opposition to the government and foreign interventionist policies. This is prevalent in the 1980s in songs against Reagan, and interventions in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Grenada. In the 1990s, this is seen with the Gulf War, and in the 2000s, with the invasion of Afghanistan, and Iraq War.
(d) Films:
The punk period also coincided with the first peak of Hollywood production of Vietnam War films, in 1978-1979 with The Deer Hunter (dir. Michael Cimino) and Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola). These early films sought to understand the meaning and nature of war, while coming to terms with American involvement in Vietnam, which claimed 50,000 lives. The films had a major cultural impact, and its imagery and quotes are frequently referenced in punk songs. By the mid-1980s, films like Uncommon Valor (1983), Missing in Action (1984), and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) concentrated on the US soldier as hero and the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russians as villains. This reflects the Reagan-era nationalism and the need to overcome the "Vietnam Syndrome". The second wave of Vietnam War films came in 1986-1987 with Platoon (dir. Oliver Stone), Hamburger Hill (dir. John Irvin), and Full Metal Jacket (dir. Stanley Kubrick). These films claimed to show the reality of combat in Vietnam in comparison to the stylised 'message' and 'flag-waving' films which came before. Once again, the major cultural impact of these films is represented in song references.
Note on Genres
Punk / Post-Punk / Hardcore: "Punk is a musical genre known for its aggression, rawness and simplicity. The roots of punk can be found in the Proto-Punk and Garage Rock of the 1960s, but it emerged fully a decade later with the success of Punk Rock"
Proto-Punk: "Proto-punk is a fairly vague term used to describe music that either influenced or resembled Punk Rock before the commercial breakthrough of punk in 1976"
Punk Rock: "Punk rock is a genre formed in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia in the mid-1970s in response to commercial and sentimental rock music..groups such as Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Clash"
Post-Punk: "With its roots in the mid to late 1970s, post-punk emerged alongside the initial Punk Rock explosion in the United Kingdom. While retaining punk rock's focus on trimming away excess, post-punk tends to place more importance on creating atmosphere and usually has more complex song-writing than punk rock"
Hardcore Punk: "Hardcore punk is a derivation of Punk Rock that appeared during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hardcore initially borrowed much from punk's original music framework and energy and made it faster, heavier and more aggressive, while retaining punk's anti-establishment image and DIY ethics/practices"
Anarcho-Punk: "As a reaction to and continuation of the commercial breakthrough of Punk Rock in the late 1970s, anarcho-punk sought to distance itself from the bands that it already considered to have become too glossy and commercial.. often played..loud and fast.. railed against societal and governmental injustices.. Other topics related to anarchism like feminism, animal rights and environmental justice"
Glam Punk: "Glam punk refers to a style of Proto-Punk or Punk Rock that blends in elements of sound and style from Glam Rock"
Art Punk: "Despite the genre having no clear definition or singular style, groups perceived as "art punk" are generally those that combine the stripped-down rock and roll style of punk rock with "arty" elements of minimalism"
Oi!: "Oi! is a sub-genre of Punk Rock that developed in the late 1970s in the United Kingdom, as a rejection to the burgeoning Art Punk genre..Musically, oi! is more simplistic when compared to those newer Punk bands. Usually it returns to the original roots of punk rock, whilst adding catchy melodies"
UK82: "UK82 was originally used as a term that refers to the Hardcore Punk of the early 1980s who were the second generation of Punk Rock"
Psychobilly: "Psychobilly music is the cross-pollination of Punk Rock and Rockabilly"
Garage Punk: "Garage Punk combines the raw fuzztones of the original Garage Rock bands of the '60s with the tempo and attitude of Punk Rock"
Synth Punk: "Synth punk appropriates the harsh elements of Punk Rock but replaces the predominance of guitars with synthesizers and drum machines"
Proto-Punk: "Proto-punk is a fairly vague term used to describe music that either influenced or resembled Punk Rock before the commercial breakthrough of punk in 1976"
Punk Rock: "Punk rock is a genre formed in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia in the mid-1970s in response to commercial and sentimental rock music..groups such as Ramones, Sex Pistols, and The Clash"
Post-Punk: "With its roots in the mid to late 1970s, post-punk emerged alongside the initial Punk Rock explosion in the United Kingdom. While retaining punk rock's focus on trimming away excess, post-punk tends to place more importance on creating atmosphere and usually has more complex song-writing than punk rock"
Hardcore Punk: "Hardcore punk is a derivation of Punk Rock that appeared during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hardcore initially borrowed much from punk's original music framework and energy and made it faster, heavier and more aggressive, while retaining punk's anti-establishment image and DIY ethics/practices"
Anarcho-Punk: "As a reaction to and continuation of the commercial breakthrough of Punk Rock in the late 1970s, anarcho-punk sought to distance itself from the bands that it already considered to have become too glossy and commercial.. often played..loud and fast.. railed against societal and governmental injustices.. Other topics related to anarchism like feminism, animal rights and environmental justice"
Glam Punk: "Glam punk refers to a style of Proto-Punk or Punk Rock that blends in elements of sound and style from Glam Rock"
Art Punk: "Despite the genre having no clear definition or singular style, groups perceived as "art punk" are generally those that combine the stripped-down rock and roll style of punk rock with "arty" elements of minimalism"
Oi!: "Oi! is a sub-genre of Punk Rock that developed in the late 1970s in the United Kingdom, as a rejection to the burgeoning Art Punk genre..Musically, oi! is more simplistic when compared to those newer Punk bands. Usually it returns to the original roots of punk rock, whilst adding catchy melodies"
UK82: "UK82 was originally used as a term that refers to the Hardcore Punk of the early 1980s who were the second generation of Punk Rock"
Psychobilly: "Psychobilly music is the cross-pollination of Punk Rock and Rockabilly"
Garage Punk: "Garage Punk combines the raw fuzztones of the original Garage Rock bands of the '60s with the tempo and attitude of Punk Rock"
Synth Punk: "Synth punk appropriates the harsh elements of Punk Rock but replaces the predominance of guitars with synthesizers and drum machines"
1970s Punk
- 21 February: Kissinger talks with Le Duc Tho begin
- 30 April: Nixon announces the incursion into Cambodia
- 1 May: Nixon calls protesters "bums"
- 4 May: 4 Student killed at Kent State Ohio, by National Guardsmen
- 24 June: Congress repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
- 12 November: Trial of Lt. William Calley began
- 22 December: Cooper-Church Amendment
1973
#1 New York Dolls Vietnamese Baby 1973 · Album · New York Dolls · Mercury # SRM-1-675 · USA
Annotation
The New York Dolls formed in 1971, in New York, USA, an influential Glam Punk and Proto-Punk group, with their two albums, both released in the 1970s, popular cult records. On this first album, featured lead singer Johnny Thunders (guitar, vocals, 1971-75), as well as David Johansen (vocals, harmonica, gong), Arthur Kane (bass, 1971-75, 2004), Sylvain Sylvain (guitar, piano, vocals, 1971-2011), and Jerry Nolan (drums, percussion, 1972-75). The song "Vietnamese Baby" (Mercury Records # SRM-1-675), released as the war was winding down, looked at its impact on both GIs and US civilians, an important early punk protest against the war, from its final years. It was released as a single in several European countries, such as the UK: "Vietnamese Baby" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Mercury 6052 402, 45, B side, silver label, Made in England, ℗ 1973; "Vietnamese Baby" (JoHansen), Seldak Music Corp/Haverstraw Pub Inc; produced by Todd Rundgren; "From the LP New York Dolls – 6338 270"; in a yellow Mercury company sleeve. [From the record sleeve and labels]Lyrics
English
When I'm getting home to you
I gotta show you what I can do
But everything connects and that ain't nowhere
Well, maybe they're just giving you all you've ever wanted
And maybe you never-ever know what that was
And maybe you're just finding it out now
With a Vietnamese baby on your mind
Technology satellite, well what's wrong today and why was everyone so busy they've forgotten
Why they're playing that, he said what's wrong today is what's wrong with you
You're so solid, busy solid
That's all you do, with a Vietnamese baby
Theme: Prostitution
#2 The Stooges Search And Destroy 1973 · Album · Raw Power · Columbia # KC 32111 · USA
1976
#3 The Ramones 53rd & 3rd 1976 · Album · Ramones · Sire # SASD-7520 · USA
Annotation
Ramones - one of the most influential American Punk Rock bands, formed on 27 January 1974, in Queens, New York, USA. They released their first album in 1976, which included the Vietnam War-related song "53rd and 3rd" (Sire Records # SASD-7520). The members of the band on this album were Joey Ramone (vocals), Johnny Ramone (guitar), Dee Dee Ramone (bass, vocals), and Tommy Ramone (drums). The song told the story of a Vietnam War veteran, a former Green Beret, hanging out at a well-known spot for male prostitution in New York, called the Loop: "I was a Green Beret in Vietnam... I'm tryin' to turn a trick... Fifty-third and third" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
If you think you can, well come on man
I was a Green Beret in Vietnam
No more of your fairy stories
'Cause I got my other worries
Fifty-third and third
Standing on the street
Fifty-third and Third
I'm tryin' to turn a trick
Fifty-third and third
You're the one they never pick
Fifty-third and third
Don't it make you feel sick?
Themes: Vet Prostitution
1977
#4 The Ramones Commando 1977 · Album · Leave Home · Sire # 9103 254 · USA
Annotation
As noted above, the Ramones were one of the most influential American Punk Rock bands, formed on 27 January 1974, in Queens, New York, USA. The punk pioneers released the song "Commando" (Sire Records # SA 7528) on their second album, in the post-war period. The song attacked the government / military / state for preparing people for war: "get them ready for Vietnam, from Old Hanoi to East Berlin" . It contained Cold War references, such as anti-communism in the US. This song was covered by the punk rock group Flower Leperds on the compilation Gabba Gabba Hey: A Tribute to the Ramones (1991). Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
They do their best, they do what they can
They get them ready for Vietnam
From old Hanoi to East Berlin
Commando, involved again
They do their best, they do what they can
They get them ready for Vietnam
First rule is the laws of Germany
Second rule is be nice to mommy
Third rule is don't talk to Commies...
1979
#5 Stry & Stripparna Vietnam 1979 · EP · Sjunger Malmö City · Heartwork # HW 05 · Sweden
Annotation
Punk / Post-Punk / Hardcore band formed in 1979 in Malmö, Sweden. Its membership: Stry Terrarie (vocals, guitar), Mikael Vestergren (guitar), Binkie Liljegren (drums), Henki van den Born (guitar), and Peter Ivarss (bass). They released the song "Vietnam" (Heartwork Records # HW 05). The lead singer, Stry Terrarie, was also in the punk group Kriminella Gitarrer, which released the song "Vietnam" on its 1999 compilation Complete Studio Recordings + Demos.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Also in: ▤ European Songs
1980
#6 Cold Warrior and the Mercenary Band Vietnam 1980 · EP · Extended Play · t.m.i. # 807-63 · USA
Annotation
The Art Punk / Post-Punk group Cold Warrior and the Mercenary Band, out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, released the song "Vietnam" (t.m.i. Products # 807-63) on their 1980 EP, which took an anti-war position. Showing concern for the possibility of "another military adventure" , the narrator asked the listener to "remember Vietnam, Lt. Calley, and the My Lai massacre...the invasion of Cambodia and Laos" . The lyrics also focused on the military-industrial complex, as mentioned by President Eisenhower during his farewell address on 17 January 1961: "in Washington, the Pentagon war machine is getting...tanks into production, along with cruise missiles" .1 The narrator suggested that instead of spending money on weapons, the funds should go towards "education, housing...a national health insurance" . Finally, the lyrics scornfully remarked that Henry Kissinger received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1973, despite his role in the controversial Christmas bombings over Hanoi and Haiphong in 1972 (Operation Linebacker II).Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
t.m.i. products 807-63, Side one, stereo, a 45 R.P.M. stereo "Extended Play" with three tracks: Side One "Jean-Paul Sartre Is Dead" (3:12) and "Vietnam" (1:59), Side Two "Beatsickness" (3:12), all by F. Lackey and the Mercenary Band, © 1980.The back of the sleeve credits Francis J. Lackey (Cold Warrior) on vocals and the Mercenary Band: Joe Bloggs (electric guitar), Dennis J. Childers (drums), Hans (organ), Christopher Koenigs Berg (fretless bass), Reid Paley (alto sax) and Stephen A. Sciulli (synthesizer); recorded at Sound Seven Studios (engineer Lee Hollihan) and The Sound Castle Studios (engineer Michael Mazzei); special thanks to Susan K. Bidish, Jim Laugelli, Judy Von Hofen and Stacy Weiss; cover photo by Stacy Weiss, graphic design by Magna Graphics Inc., "A T.M.I. Product".
The front-cover photograph shows the group gathered on the steps outside a Rockwell International building, most of them hiding their faces behind open pamphlets. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Do you remember Vietnam, Lt. Calley, and the My Lai massacre?
Do you remember the invasion of Cambodia and Laos
The Pentagon says America is ready for another military adventure...
When the United States bombed North Vietnam in December of 1972 do you know what Henry Kissinger received?
The Nobel Prize for Peace
In Washington the Pentagon war machine is getting the ? tanks into production
Along with cruise missiles, index missiles, neutron bombs, nerve gas
When will America learn?
Let's spend our funds on education, housing full employment, a national health insurance program
Also in: ▤ My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs
#7 The Clash Charlie Don't Surf 1980 · Album · Sandinista! Disc 2 · CBS # FSLN 1 · UK
Annotation
The Clash, a British Punk Rock band that formed in London in 1976, which featured Joe Strummer (guitar, vocals), Paul Simonon (bass, vocals), Mick Jones (guitar, vocals, 1976-83), and Topper Headon (drums, vocals, 1977-82). In 1981 they released the single "This Is Radio Clash" (CBS # CBS A1797), which referenced the Vietnam War and napalm (a jellied gasoline mixture which the US government extensively used during the war, as previously discussed). The group followed this up in 1982 with the track"Straight to Hell" (CBS # A 2646) which mentioned Vietnam in the second and third verses. In 1981 they released the song "Charlie Don't Surf" on the album Sandinista! (CBS # FSLN 1), a reference to the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The song referenced the use of napalm.So as noted above, on this album was the song "Charlie Don't Surf" . The reference to surfing, napalm, and a beach party displays the influence of Vietnam War films on American culture. In the film Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by the political liberal and dove Francis Ford Coppola. Captain Kilgore (Robert Duvall) of the Air Cavalry attacks a Vietcong held village while playing Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" on the loud speakers of his helicopter. Once on the ground, Kilgore strips of his shirt and scarf and prepares to go surfing with explosions and gunshots all around. As fighter jets bomb the forest behind the Vietcong village, Kilgore says happily "I love the smell of napalm in the morning….smells like victory".
NotesDozens of songs are influenced by Apocalypse Now either in title or lyrics, especially the quote "smell of napalm in the moring". Here are a select few:
- "Charlie Don't Surf" by The Clash on Sandinista! (1980)
- "Napalm Beach" by The Five on Napalm Beach / Excite Me (1981)
- "Beach Party Vietnam" by The Dead Milkmen on Eat Your Paisley! (1986)
- "Rambo Rat" by The Queers on Grow Up (1990)
- "The War in Vietnam" by New Scene on Technomakinita 2 (1991)
- "Back to Nam EP" by Commando Alan Jamming Nam (1994)
- "Wa Wa Zat!!" by David Lee Roth on DLR Band (1998)
- "Vietnam" by Big Red on Big Redemption (1999)
- "New World Disorder" by Biohazard on New World Disorder (1999)
- "Napalm in the Morning" by Sodom on M-16 (2001)
- "Hysteria" by Knives Out! on Black Mass Hysteria (2012)
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Charlie don't surf and we think he should
Charlie don't surf and you know that it ain't no good
Charlie don't surf for his hamburger momma
Charlie's gonna be a napalm star
Everybody wants to rule the world
Must be something we get from birth
One truth is we never learn
Satellites will make space burn
We've been told to keep the strangers out
We don't like them starting to hang around
We don't like them all over town
Across the world we are going to blow them down
The reign of the super powers must be over
So many armies can't free the earth
Soon the rock will roll over
Africa is choking on their Coca Cola
It's a one a way street in a one horse town
One way people starting to brag around
You can laugh, put them down
These one way people gonna blow us down
Themes: Napalm Apocalypse Now
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#8 The X-Defektors Agent Orange 1980 · EP · Funeral in Berlin E.P. · Industrious Youth # CONSTRUCT 1 · UK
Annotation
UK Post-Punksong "Agent Orange" (Industrious Youth Records # CONSTRUCT 1), a reference to the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. It is frequently referenced in post-war songs, especially in punk-related genres.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Agent Orange
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#9 Ski Patrol Agent Orange 1980 · Single · Agent Orange / Driving · Malicious Damage # MD2 · UK
Annotation
Post-Punk group formed in 1979 in Brixton, London, UK. They disbanded in 1981. Members: Ian Lowery (vocals), Nick Clift (guitar, keyboards), Peter Balmer (bass, 1979-80), Bruce Archibald (drums, 1979-80), Francis Cook (bass, 1980-81), Alan Cole (drums, 1980-81). They released the song "Agent Orange" (Malicious Damage # MD2), a reference to the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. It is frequently referenced in post-war songs, especially in punk-related genres. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I've been told, like a soldier, I would burn, before the camera
Gasp of horror, in an armchair, across the world, in a moment
There's no time, for sending men, your expression, outraged
Declamation, upstaged
Agent orange, I'm on fire
No one knows, it's like magic, ask me why, it's on living
Count of heads, it's so easy, now that I'm gone, I'll be busy
It's a game, we're all children...agent orange, I'm on fire
Theme: Agent Orange
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#10 Toxic Reasons War Hero 1980 · Single · War Hero / Somebody Help Me · Banit # 4057 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group from formed in 1979 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. Disbanded in 1995. Membership included Bruce Stuckey (guitar, vocals), Ed Pittman (lead vocals, 1979-83), Joel Agne (guitar, vocals, 1979-81), Mark Patterson (drums, 1979-81), J.J. Pearson [aka Jimmy Joe] (drums, vocals, 1980-95), and Rob Lucjak [aka Snott] (bass, guitar, vocals, 1980-85). They released the song "War Hero" (Banit Records # 004057), which took an anti-war position, with the narrator saying he did not want to be a hero, and "don't want a movie made about me" - another reflection of the cultural impact of Vietnam War films. The song noted PTSD: "my best friend just lost his head" . The song also referenced Cambodia, probably in relation to the Vietnam War, or could also be the Cambodian Civil War or Cambodian Genocide: "Ten thousand dead in Phenom Phen" . Also featured on the 1994 compilation Bloodstains Across the Midwest (BLOODSTAINS 3). They also released the song "White Noise" on the 1982 album Independence, discussed below, about El Salvador, which referenced the Vietnam War.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Beer City Records pressing, Side One, stereo 45 RPM; "War Hero", 1:49, © Toxic Reasons, Toxic Tunes, BMI. Picture sleeve front: photograph of a boy beside a bombed-out brick house, with "War Hero" and "Toxic Reasons". Back: photograph of rows of military headstones in a cemetery; "Produced by Tony Fogle", "Recorded Jan 1980"; Beer City Skateboards/Records logo and barcode. [From the record sleeve and labels]Lyrics
English
I don't wanna be no war hero
Don't want a movie made about me
I don't wanna be no war hero
Just get away from the madness I see
Ten thousand dead in Phenom Phen
Happens every day again and again
I didn't wanna come here in the first place
Didn't wanna destroy another race
Sent me over here when I was a boy
Taught me to kill with their government toy
Now the G.I.'s, they're all dead
And my best friend just lost his head
Theme: Anti-War
#11 AK-47 The Badge Means You Suck 1980 · Single · The Badge Means You Suck / Kiss My Machine · 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. Sources
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
Also in: ▤ Civil Rights Songs▤ PTSD Songs
#12 The Pop Group How Much Longer 1980 · Album · For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? · Rough Trade # ROUGH 9 · UK
Annotation
Post-Punk & Art Punk album from The Pop Group, formed 1978 in Bristol, UK, featuring Mark Stewart (vocals), Gareth Sager (guitar, saxophone), Bruce Smith (drums, percussion), John Waddington (guitar, 1978-81), Simon Underwood (bass, 1978-80), and Dan Catsis (bass, 1980-present). This album contained a couple anti-war songs referencing the Vietnam War. The first song "How Much Longer" (Rough Trade Records # ROUGH 9), criticised apathy towards war: "what's pathetic is our apathy" , wondering why "we tolerate mass murder" . The lyrics looked at the economics of war, noting "hell of a lot of money to be made from wars" . Direclty-related to Vietnam, the song called the US incursion into Cambodia in 1970 a war crime: "Nixon and Kissinger should be tried for war crimes for the secret bombing of Cambodia" - of course a reference to President Richard Nixon and his National Security Adviser / Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the time of the incursion.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Just one question
For how much longer do we tolerate mass murder?
Tolerance is a mask of apathy
Attrition is a daily policy
There's a hell of a lot of money to be made from wars
What's pathetic is our apathy in the face of the misery of others
Our inaction in the face of their murder and enslavement
Is a violent crime
There is guilt and there is action
All that we ask for is our very own garden of Eden
Nixon and Kissinger should be tried for war crimes for the secret bombing of Cambodia
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#13 The Pop Group Justice 1980 · Album · For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? · Rough Trade # ROUGH 9 · UK
Annotation
The song "Justice" was about civil disobedience, and police violence, referencing the death of Kevin Gately in the Red Lion Square disorders, the death of Clement Blair Peach at an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, UK, the death of Jim Kelly in police custody in Liverpool, UK, political prisoners, conflict in Zimbabwe, and the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which the lyrics compared to the Vietnam War: "Ireland is their practice ground...Our very own Vietnam" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I wake up every day
And look at my country
This is what the blind man sees
Does it look like justice to you
It doesn't look like justice to me
They've got to protect their property
Better phone up the police
Call up corruption
Who killed Blair Peach?
Political prisoners caught at Southall
And tried by kangaroo courts
A man had to have his balls removed
After being kicked by the S.P.G.
It doesn't look like justice to me
Have your heard the rumours
You've got 2 years till conscription
Do you want to go fight Zimbabwe
Do you want to go fight in Ireland
Soon it's got to be you and me
Who guards the guards
Who polices the police
What happened at Red Lion Square
Who killed Kevin Gately
Jimmy Kelly arrested in Liverpool
And later died in custody
And they'll bring in the army
To break up the strikes
And they'll bring the legal terrorists
To control civil disorders
Ireland is their practice ground
To control civil disorders
Our very own Vietnam
Who guards the guards
Who polices the police
#14 Dead Kennedys Holiday In Cambodia 1980 · Single · Holiday in Cambodia / Police Truck · I.R.S. # IR 9016 · USA
Annotation
The Dead Kennedys - a Hardcore Punk band formed in 1978, in San Francisco, California. The song "Holiday in Cambodia" (Optional Music # OPT-4), composed by Jello Biafra and John Greenway centred on the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, led by the Pol Pot. The lyrics criticised Western students, comparing their lifestyle with the Cambodia regime. The official video of the song contained images of the US Airforce dropping napalm bombs over eastern Cambodia, in Operation Menu (8 March 1969 to 26 May 1970), part of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War - 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 1973.123Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
I.R.S. IR 9016, International Record Syndicate, Inc., ℗ 1980 I.R.S., Inc., single grey label carrying both sides: A "Police Truck" (Biafra, Ray), 2:24, IR-09016-A, and B "Holiday in Cambodia", 3:43, IR-09016-B, © 1980 Decay Music, BMI (Dead Kennedys). The picture sleeve shows a black-and-white news photograph of a crowd scene, with the title in red and "Dead Kennedys" running down the right edge. [From the record sleeve and labels]Lyrics
English
So, you've been to school for a year or two
And you know you've seen it all
In daddy's car, thinking you'll go far
Back east your type don't crawl
Playing ethnicky jazz to parade your snazz
On your five-grand stereo
Braggin' that you know, how the niggers feel cold
And the slums got so much soul
It's time to taste what you most fear
Right Guard will not help you here
Brace yourself, my dear
Brace yourself, my dear
It's a holiday in Cambodia
It's tough, kid, but it's life
It's a holiday in Cambodia
Don't forget to pack a wife
You're a star-belly snitch, you suck like a leech
You want everyone to act like you
Kiss ass while you bitch, so you can get rich
But your boss gets richer off you
Well, you'll work harder with a gun in your back
For a bowl of rice a day
Slave for soldiers till you starve
Then your head is skewered on a stake
Now you can go where people are one
Now you can go where they get things done
What you need, my son...
What you need, my son...
Is a holiday in Cambodia
Where people dress in black
A holiday in Cambodia
Where you'll kiss ass or crack
Pol Pot, Pol Pot
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
1981
#15 The Stranglers Vietnamerica 1981 · Single · Let Me Introduce You to the Family / Vietnamerica · Liberty # BP 405 · UK
Annotation
The Stranglers formed in Guildford, Surrey, UK in 1974, a popular New Wave / Post-Punk band, scoring over 23 UK top 40 singles. The four piece, led by Hugh Cornwell (vocals, guitar), included J.J. Burnel (bass, vocals), Jet Black (drums), and Dave Greenfield (keyboards, vocals) up to 1990, when a few personnel changes took place. The song "Vietnamerica" (Liberty Records # BP 405) took an anti-war approach, criticising American involvement in Vietnam and its negative impact on the Vietnamese: "cry in ancient lands...burnt their hands...treasures captured, pleasures enraptured" . Hugh Cornwell spoke about the song in an interview with Jim Drury, for the book "The Stranglers: Song by Song" (2010): "this was quite Doorsy...Vietnamerica was a nice play on words. I'd just seen Apocalypse Now, which was a very colourful film. The lyrics came very quickly. There was a lot of rape of pillage in Vietnam, and the Americans got their fingers burned".1 Thus, an early example of the influence of Hollywood Vietnam War films on the portrayal of the war. The song did not originally feature on an album, only as the b-side to this single. It also featured on the US compilation IV (I.R.S. Records # SP 70011) released in September 1980, just prior to this single. The single reached # 42 in the UK charts.2Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Liberty BP 405 (BP 405B), Side B, 45 RPM; "Vietnamerica" (The Stranglers), Albion Music Ltd.; ℗ 1981 Liberty United Records (UK) Ltd.; arranged and produced by The Stranglers, engineer Steve Churchyard, mixed by Tony Visconti; manufactured in the UK by EMI Records Ltd. Picture sleeve front: old black-and-white photograph of a family seated at a banquet table, on a background of grey tommy-guns, with "Let Me Introduce You to the Family".Back: both titles, the "La Folie" Tour dates for November (Norwich UEA to Liverpool Royal Court Theatre) and the Stranglers Information Service, Shepperton Studio Centre, Middlesex. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
It's over linger, on nightmares of the waste
The pagan values, a bloodsweet crimson taste
Treasures captured, pleasures enraptured
Lose their friendship, Vietnamerica....
The native plaintive, cry in ancient lands
Omnipotent, gods have burnt their hands
Lightning providers fatal dividers
Spread heads inside us, Vietnamerica...
So friends, oh, friends, paint the mother's face
Liars conspire, to hide within God's grace
Treasures captured, pleasures enraptured
Lose their friendship, Vietnamerica
Theme: Anti-War
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#16 Alan Vega Viet Vet 1981 · Album · Collision Drive · Island # ILPS9692 · USA
Annotation
Post-Punk artist Alan Vega, born 23 June 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, died 16 July 2016 in New York, USA, known for being one of the members of influential Synth Punk group Suicide. He released the song "Viet Vet" (Island Records # ILPS9692), about the mistreatment of a Vietnam veteran: "he rides the subway, he's all alone" . His father and mother have died, his sweetheart had left him: "where are you ma...pa, they're gone, and his girl...Dear John" . The song noted that he had won the Purple Heart - medal awarded by the US president to those wounded or killed in action (K.I.A.). An estimated 351,794 were awarded during the Vietnam War. The song was covered by Australian post-punk group The Mark of Cain on the 1994 single Tell Me, discussed below. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Glory, glory, hallelujah, glory, glory, hallelujah
Oh the truth comes marching in
He's a twisted flyer....he loves his country
It's the greatest, he's just another regular guy
Or he was, Viet vet...four purple hearts...
Forget it, he's looking for his home, forget it
Where are you ma, where are you pa, they're gone
And his girl, forget it, dear john to death
What you're gonna do, there ain't no jobs
You gotta bleed and stomp for an arm...
He rides the subway, he's all alone...
They're alone, forever, forever...
Theme: Vet
#17 Au Pairs Armagh 1981 · Album · Playing With a Different Sex · Human # HUMAN 1 · UK
Annotation
Post-Punk group formed in 1978 in Birmingham, West Midlands, UK. Disbanded in 1983. Members included: Members Lesley Woods (vocals, guitar), Paul Foad (guitar, vocals), Pete Hammond (drums), Jane Munro (bass, vocals, 1979-83). The song "Armagh" contained a brief reference to the Vietnam War in context of women jailed in Northern Island. Note the reference to the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis, which the group said received more attention than Northern Island political prisoners. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
We don't torture, we're a civilized nation
We're avoiding any confontation
We don't torture, we don't torture
American hostages in Iran
Heard daily on the news
Forget about Vietnam
You can ignore the 32
There are 32 women in Armagh jail
#18 Dead Kennedys We've Got A Bigger Probem Now 1981 · Album · In God We Trust, Inc · Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 5 · USA
Annotation
The Dead Kennedys - a Hardcore Punk band formed in 1978, in San Francisco, California. This EP featured Jello Biafra (vocals), Klaus Flouride (bass, vocals), East Bay Ray (guitar, vocals), and Peligro (drums). The song "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now" (Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 5) focused on the election of Ronald Reagan in 1981 but it also mentioned the Vietnam War and showed concern about Alexander Haig, Reagan's Secretary of State (1981-1982), who served under Nixon during the Vietnam War as White House Chief of Staff (1973-1974) and Henry Kissinger's deputy at the National Security Council (1970-1973). The lyrics suggested that Reagan and Haig might lead the US to more Vietnam style wars, referencing the conflict in El Salvador or Afghanistan. They warned the youth audience that "they'll draft you" . This is an updated version of the song California Über Alles released as a single in 1979, but with different lyrics (which do not mention Vietnam). The original song attacked the counter-culture and hippies for becoming too close to the economic and political establishment. But with the Reagan election, as the new title suggested, the Dead Kennedys found it more important to oppose the rise of right-wing parties, big business, and the role of religion in politics.1Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Last call for alcohol, last call for your freedom of speech
Drink up, happy hour is now enforced by law
Don't forget our house special, it's called a Trickie Dickie Screwdriver...
I am Emperor Ronald Reagan, born again with fascist cravings
Still, you made me president, human rights will soon go 'way...
Now you're going to pray in school, I'll make sure they're Christian...
You closed your eyes, can't happen here, Alexander Haig is near
Vietnam won't come back you say, join the army or you will pay
Welcome to 1984, are you ready for the third world war?!?
You too will meet the secret police, they'll draft you...
Die on our brand new poison gas, El Salvador or Afghanistan
Making money for President Reagan and all the friends of...Reagan
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#19 Kraut Kill For Cash 1981 · Single · Kill for Cash / True Color / Just Cabbage · Cabbage # K 0001 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group formed in 1981, New York, USA, featuring the members Davey Gunner (vocals), Doug Holland (guitar, 1981-85), Chris Smith (guitar, 1985-86), Don Cowan (bass), Johnny "Feedback" Koncz (drums) Their first release was the song "Kill For Cash" (Cabbage Records # K 0001) referenced the Vietnam War. It also featured on the album An Adjustment to Society (Cabbage Records # K 0003). Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Lets go back to Vietnam
And start another war...
Kill for cash
Theme: Anti-War
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#20 The Five Napalm Beach 1981 · Single · Napalm Beach / Excite Me · USA
Annotation
Post-Punk group formed in 1980 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. They disbanded in 1987. Members included: Dave Doremus (bass), Brian Gillespie (drums), Tom Moran (guitar), Reid Paley (vocals). They released the song "Napalm Beach" (# 101031), which presumably is a reference to surfing, napalm, and a beach party, displaying the influence of Vietnam War films on American culture. In the film Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by the political liberal and dove Francis Ford Coppola. Captain Kilgore (Robert Duvall) of the Air Cavalry attacks a Vietcong held village while playing Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" on the loud speakers of his helicopter. Once on the ground, Kilgore strips of his shirt and scarf and prepares to go surfing with explosions and gunshots all around. As fighter jets bomb the forest behind the Vietcong village, Kilgore says happily "I love the smell of napalm in the morning…. smells like victory".NotesDozens of songs are influenced by Apocalypse Now either in title or lyrics, especially the quote "smell of napalm in the moring". Here are a select few:
- "Charlie Don't Surf" by The Clash on Sandinista! (1980)
- "Napalm Beach" by The Five on Napalm Beach / Excite Me (1981)
- "Beach Party Vietnam" by The Dead Milkmen on Eat Your Paisley! (1986)
- "Rambo Rat" by The Queers on Grow Up (1990)
- "The War in Vietnam" by New Scene on Technomakinita 2 (1991)
- "Back to Nam EP" by Commando Alan Jamming Nam (1994)
- "Wa Wa Zat!!" by David Lee Roth on DLR Band (1998)
- "Vietnam" by Big Red on Big Redemption (1999)
- "New World Disorder" by Biohazard on New World Disorder (1999)
- "Napalm in the Morning" by Sodom on M-16 (2001)
- "Hysteria" by Knives Out! on Black Mass Hysteria (2012)
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Dozens of songs are influenced by Apocalypse Now either in title or lyrics, especially the quote "smell of napalm in the moring". Here are a select few:
"Charlie Don't Surf" by The Clash on Sandinista! (1980)
"Napalm Beach" by The Five on Napalm Beach (1981)
"Beach Party Vietnam" by The Dead Milkmen on Eat Your Paisley! (1986)
"Rambo Rat" by The Queers on Grow Up (1990)
"The War in Vietnam" by New Scene on Technomakinita 2 (1991)
"Back to Nam EP" by Commando Alan Jamming Nam (1994)
"Wa Wa Zat!!" by David Lee Roth on DLR Band (1998)
"Vietnam" by Big Red on Big Redemption (1999)
"New World Disorder" by Biohazard on New World Disorder (1999)
"Napalm in the Morning" by Sodom on M-16 (2001)
"Hysteria" by Knives Out! on Black Mass Hysteria (2012)
Theme: Napalm
#21 The Clash This Is Radio Clash 1981 · Single · This Is Radio Clash / Radio Clash · CBS # 1797 · UK
Annotation
The Clash, a British Punk Rock band that formed in London in 1976, which featured in 1982 (during the release of this single) Joe Strummer (guitar, vocals), Paul Simonon (bass, vocals), Mick Jones (guitar, vocals, 1976-83), and Topper Headon (drums, vocals, 1977-82). In 1981 they released the single "This Is Radio Clash" (CBS # CBS A1797), which referenced the Vietnam War and napalm (a jellied gasoline mixture which the US government extensively used during the war, as previously discussed). The group followed this up in 1982 with the track "Straight to Hell" (CBS # A 2646) which mentioned Vietnam in the second and third verses. In 1981 they released the song "Charlie Don't Surf" on the album Sandinista! (CBS # FSLN 1), a reference to the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The song referenced the use of napalm. Here is the 1981 song "This Is Radio Clash" (CBS # CBS A1797), an interesting Cold War punk song, reference Vietnam, napalm, and the atomic bomb.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
This sound does not subscribe to the international plan
In the psycho shadow of the white right hand
Then that see ghettology as an urban Vietnam
Giving deadly exhibitions of murder by napalm...
This is radio clash underneath a mushroom cloud
A-riggy diggy dig dang dang
Go back to urban 'nam
Theme: Napalm
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#22 Pell Mell New Saigon 1981 · EP · Rhyming Guitars · Indoor # in001 · USA
Theme: Saigon
1982
#23 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.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
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ PTSD Songs
#24 The Fartz Hero's (Cum Home in Boxes) 1982 · Album · World Full of Hate... · Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 17 · USA
Annotation
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
You could be one of the proud few who just become dead heros
Give your life to serve your country, but dead men wear no medals
In a war there are no winners, only mangeled, bloody corpses
Young people give their lives, serving the government forces
Die for your country be a hero, this makes the leaders feel so proud
See how proud your family is when you come home in a box
And if you worship T.V. heros it's time for you to face the facts
In real life there are no actors, only heros cum home in box
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#25 The Clash Straight to Hell 1982 · Single · Straight to Hell / Should I Stay or Should I Go · CBS # A 2646 · UK
Annotation
The Clash, a British Punk Rock band that formed in London in 1976, which featured in 1982 (during the release of this single) Joe Strummer (guitar, vocals), Paul Simonon (bass, vocals), Mick Jones (guitar, vocals, 1976-83), and Topper Headon (drums, vocals, 1977-82). In 1981 they released the single "This Is Radio Clash" (CBS # CBS A1797), which referenced the Vietnam War and napalm (a jellied gasoline mixture which the US government extensively used during the war, as previously discussed). The group followed this up in 1982 with the track "Straight to Hell" (CBS # A 2646) which mentioned Vietnam in the second and third verses. In 1981 they released the song "Charlie Don't Surf" on the album Sandinista! (CBS # FSLN 1), a reference to the 1979 Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The song referenced the use of napalm. The track "Straight to Hell" (CBS # A 2646) dealt with the abandonment of Vietnamese children fathered by American soldiers during the war, known as "Amerasian". In the song the Amerasian child ask his American father - "papa san" (a Japanese word, but used by US soldiers in Vietnam to refer to older Vietnamese men and women) - to take him home to the US. It also contained a Christmas reference: "When it's Christmas out in Ho Chi Minh City" . Composed by Strummer, Jones, Simonon, and Headon. It appeared on the 1981 album Combat Rock (CBS # FMLN 2).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
CBS A 2646 (CBS A 2646A A), "AA" side, 45 RPM, stereo, ℗ 1982 CBS Records, made in England, label printed with a black star on a camouflage background; "Straight to Hell (Edited Version)" (The Clash), published by Nineden Ltd., original sound recording made by CBS Records.The picture sleeve front, marked "Double 'A' Side Single", shows a skull in a camouflage helmet with sergeant's chevrons over crossed machine guns and four aces; the back shows a dragon and lists "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and "Straight to Hell (Edit)", "Taken from the L.P./Tape 'Combat Rock' FMLN 2/FMLN 40-2"; cover by Left Hand Luke, © 1982 CBS Records. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Y'wanna join in a chorus of the Amerasian blues?
When it's Christmas out in Ho Chi Minh City
Kiddie say papa san....take me home
See me got photo of you and mamma-san
Lemme tell ya 'bout your blood bamboo kid
It ain't Coca-Cola it's rice
Straight to hell
Oh papa-san, please take me home
#26 The Lords of the New Church Russian Roulette 1982 · Single · Russian Roulette / Young Don't Cry · Illegal / Illegal # ILS 0033 / ILP009 · UK
Annotation
Post-Punk formed in 1982 in London, UK, and disbanded in 2007. The original members, featured on this single were Brian James (guitar, vocals), Stiv Bators (lead vocals, 1982-89), Nicky Turner (drums, vocals, 1982-89), Dave Tregunna (bass, vocals, 1982-89). The song "Russian Roulette" (Illegal Records # ILS 0033), starting out with helicopter sound-effects: "I'm on a helicopter ride through Vietnam" , was heavily influenced by Vietnam War films, like many punk post-war songs: "we're in the movie" . The title of the song was a reference to the famous scene in The Deer Hunter (1978), a key symbol of this 'message film', in which Russian roulette is used by Vietcong captors to torture American soldiers. Such torture has never been documented and this contributes to portraying the Vietnamese in a negative way. Students of the Vietnam War would argue that this is clearly not reality. Others may feel that The Deer Hunter is depicting an important message about American involvement in Vietnam – an American soldier puts a gun to his head, pulls the trigger, and kills himself. The song also contained the line: "I'm living out Frank Coppola's dreams" , of course a reference to director Francis Ford Coppola, whose influential film Apocalypse Now (1979), was, along with The Deer Hunter, part of the first peak of Hollywood production of Vietnam War films, between 1978-1979, which sought to understand the meaning and nature of war, while coming to terms with American involvement in Vietnam, which claimed 50,000 lives. The famous 'surfing scene', and the quote "I love the smell of napalm in the morning….smells like victory" featured in dozens of songs. This song also featured on the group's debut album The Lords of the New Church (Illegal Records # ILP009).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I'm on a helicopter ride through Vietnam
I'm the Leicester Square
Kid I'm superman
I'm putting weight for the Oscar
Man gonna get through anyway I can
Hey, hey, hey, we're in the movie
I feel up and I feel groovy
Let's go out and get some of that
Gimme, gimme, gimme, some Russian Roulette
Everywhere, everyone is red and green
I gotta lust for glory and a tape machine
I'm living out Frank Coppola's dreams
Outta my mind, I'm feelin' mean
Hey, hey, hey, we're in the movie
I feel up and I feel groovy
Let's go out and get some of that
Gimme, gimme, gimme, some Russian Roulette
I'm a Nuremberg stepper blowin' wets away
I gotta headful of Hendrix, I'm feelin' okay
I'm a late night thriller, I'm Miss La Ray
Outta my mind, can I come to play?
Hey, hey, hey, we're in the movie
I feel up and I feel groovy
Let's go out and get some of that
Gimme, gimme, gimme, some Russian Roulette
Gimme, gimme, gimme, some Russian Roulette
I said, hey, I said, hey, I said, I said, hey, we're in the movie
I'm feelin' groovy
Get some of that
Gimme, gimme, gimme, some Russian Roulette....
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#27 Destructors Agent Orange 1982 · EP · Religion! There is No Religion! · Carnage Benelux # KILL 2 · UK
Annotation
This UK82 band, a sub-genre of Hardcore Punk, originally formed in 1977 in Peterborough, UK, featuring Alan Adams (vocals, bass), Neil Singleton (vocals), Andy McDonald (drums), Andy Jackson (guitar), Dave Ithermee (guitar), Graham Butts (guitar). Also known as "Destructors 666". Between 1980-1984 they released a series of singles and EPs on political and religious themes, dealing with Reagan and Thatcherite policies, and looking back at the past. In 1982 they released the song "Agent Orange" about the Vietnam War, on the EP Religion! There is No Religion! (Carnage Benelux # kill 2). Their 1984 compilation The Destructors: A Final Testament (Carnage Benelux # kill 666) said "Bomb Hanoi, Bomb Saigon" on its front cover. In 2005, Alan Adams reformed the band in Peterborough, working with many different musicians across many albums.1 In 2010 they released the song "Kent State Reprobate" on the album Dead Beat to White Heat.. On this release is the anti-war song "Agent Orange" (Carnage Benelux # KILL 2), a reference to the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical: "you’re victim of chemical warfare... Agent Orange pollutes the waters, and deforms your sons and daughters" . The lyrics also reference napalm: "napalm will burn all around, you’re victim of American aggression" - 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 These themes are frequently referenced in post-war songs. This song was covered by Tarnfarbe in 1984 on the album Heroes of Today, discussed below.
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Warplanes in the sky and you wonder why
Because when the bomb hits the ground
The napalm will burn all around
You’re victim of American aggression
You’re victim of chemical warfare
You’re victim of technological oppression
You’re victim of push-button warfare
For total war civilian stands
In the centre of the battleground
And this insidious chemical warfare
Will ultimately affect his welfare
And children with flesh burnt to the bones
Ruining your TV-dinners in your homes
And with your taxes you pay for carnage
And to your armed forces paid homage
Agent Orange pollutes the waters
And deforms your sons and daughters
But you hide it from your eyes
And cover it with government lies
And sleep happy in your beds
And never think about the dead
Themes: Agent Orange Kent State
#28 Crucial T Agent Orange 1982 · EP · Darkened Days · Rat Cage # CT-001 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group formed in New York, USA. Band members included: Alex Mitchell, Derek Graham, Mario Sorrentino, and Mike Marer. Lead singer Alex Mitchell was later in the hard rock group Circus of Power. The song "Agent Orange" (Rat Cage Records # CT-001) focused on the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. It is frequently referenced in post-war songs. The song accused the US government of committing a crime, although the Veteran Administration claimed that nothing was wrong with the herbicide: "V.A. says that they're not lying" . However, the narrator said that "deformed babies ain't no dream" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
45 RPM; label credits Crucial T., "All rights reserved Crucial T. 1982", 307 E. 9th St., N.Y.C., N.Y. 10003. This side: "Male Domination" (1:30), "In the Night" (2:40); other side: "Darkened Days" (4:12), "Agent Orange" (:51). Plain black label printed in white. [From the record sleeve and labels]Lyrics
English
US government, bigger than crime
V.A. says that they're not lying
Agent Orange is a crazy scene
Deformed babies ain't no dream
Agent Orange!
Agent Orange!
Agent Orange!
Agent Orange!
Babies born without no eyes
Some are dead, some are alive
Crying mommy asking why?
Agent Orange, give it a try...
Dow Jones says now don't be fools
Agent Orange can be cruel
They said don't you worry
Don't you know they are fucking tools
Agent Orange
Theme: Agent Orange
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#29 Toxic Reasons White Noise 1982 · Album · Independence · Risky · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group from formed in 1979 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. Disbanded in 1995. Membership included Bruce Stuckey (guitar, vocals), Ed Pittman (lead vocals, 1979-83), Joel Agne (guitar, vocals, 1979-81), Mark Patterson (drums, 1979-81), J.J. Pearson [aka Jimmy Joe] (drums, vocals, 1980-95), and Rob Lucjak [aka Snott] (bass, guitar, vocals, 1980-85). The band also released the anti-Vietnam War song "War Hero" , in 1980, discussed above: War Hero / Somebody Help Me. On this record was the song "White Noise" (Risky Records # RI 10004) which took an anti-war position, criticising western interverntion. The narrator said that the "Viet Nam era and Krushchev have died" (a reference to the USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev, 1953-64), yet the Cold War continued, "standing here at the Berlin Wall, the scent of war" , and well as "El Salvador" , a reference to the US involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War by US President Carter & President Reagan.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Standin' in the streets of El Salvador
The last son of freedom won't fight no more
The Viet Nam era and Khrushchev have died
But the war goes on and I'm left asking why
I'm standing here at the Berlin Wall
The scent of war, thanks and bombs
White Noise - White Noise
White Noise - White Noise
Move me here, move me there
'Cause I'm a pawn and I don't care
Use me, kill me
Theme: Anti-War
#30 RF7 Viet Vets 1982 · EP · Fall In · Smoke 7 # SMK7 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group formed in 1979 in Simi Valley, California, USA. Members imcluded: Felix Alanis (vocals), Nick Lamagna (guitar, vocals), Robert Armstrong (bass, vocals), Walt Phelan (drums, vocals), Kiley Asato (bass), Tony Calderone (guitar), Big Mike (drums), Gnat (bass), Xavier Chavez (bass), Steve Drojensky (guitar), Mike Smith (bass). Their song "Viet Vets" focused on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - frequently referenced in post-war 1980s songs about US veterans, it often connected this (in songs) to stress, shell shock, flashbacks, nostalgia, and feelings and dreams related to an event: "reality made them lose control... turn me off, make it stop... I got no mind" . The song looked at the issue of the disabled Vietnam veteran: "some have arms, some have legs, some have neither one" . The song also noted the use of Agent Orange - the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. Moreover, the song referred to drug culture in Vietnam: "Agent orange and LSD, must surely take there toll" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Screwed up, fucked up losers, that's our Viet Vets
Screwed up, fucked up losers, they just wanna forget...
Some have arms, some have legs, some have neither one
Some of them just lost their minds, some still play with guns
Agent orange and LSD, must surely take there toll
But I tend to think reality made them lose control
Some came home, some never did, some aren't really sure
Some kill kids, some themselves, others want a cure
"I got no arm, I got no mind, I saw my buddy die
I'm to the point where I can't tell If I'm straight or high...
Blood, death, fuck, war does suck
Kill some kid I never knew
Turn me off, make it stop
Don't wanna kill no more
Coming home didn't matter cause I still call it war
I got no arm, I got no mind
I saw my buddy die, I'm to the point where I can't tell
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#31 Siniestro Total Fuera las manos chinas del Vietnam socialista 1982 · Album · ¿Cuándo se come aquí? · Spain
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in December 1981 in Vigo, Galicia, Spain. Its original line-up included: Julián Hernández (vocals, drums, clarinet), Miguel Costas (vocals, guitar, 1981-94), Alberto Torrado (bass, keyboards, guitar, 1981-87), and Germán Coppini (vocals, 1981-83). On this album they released the song "Fuera las manos chinas del Vietnam socialista" ( "Out Chinese Hands of the Socialist Vietnam" ) (DRO # DRO-014), in which the narrator said that "we work for the Vietcong on the outskirts of Saigon" - the Vietcong (or VC), is the National Liberation Front (NFL), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam. It noted Chinese influence in the country: "read Mao-ze-dong...yes open red book for me" - a reference to Mao Zedong, the leader of the People's Republic of China (1949-1976). The song presented anti-Chinese sentiment and interference from the perspective of the Vietnamese.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Gripping our rifle
We'll throw out the vile Chinese
Firing our cannon
We'll kill the invader
Oh, little China girl, tell me yes
Oh, little China girl, give me your love
Chinese hands off socialist Vietnam
We work for the Vietcong
On the outskirts of Saigon
They come from the Me-Kong
They read Mao-ze-dong too
Oh, little China girl, tell me yes
Open the red book for me
Chinese hands off socialist Vietnam
Their tanks bring radio-cassettes
And they bring the majorettes along
The peppermint sticks in our throats
We'll invoke Ho-Chi-Min
Oh, little China girl, wait for me
Let's go together, the two of us, for tea
Spanish
Empuñando nuestro fusil
Echaremos al chino vil
Disparando nuestro cañón
Mataremos al invasor
Ay, chinita, dime que sí
Ay, chinita , dame tu amor
Fuera las manos chinas del Vietnam socialista
Trabajamos para el Vietcong
En las afueras de Saigón
Ellos vienen desde el Me-Kong
También leen a Mao-ze-dong
Ay, chinita, dime que sí
Abre el libro rojo para mí
Fuera las manos chinas del Vietnam socialista
Sus tanques traen radiocassette
Y se traen a las marjorettes
Se nos atraganta el pippermint
Invocaremos a Ho-Chi-Min
Ay, chinita, espérame
Vamos los dos juntos a tomar el té
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#32 Camaleones Noche de paz, noche en Vietnam 1982 · Compilation · Navidades Radioactivas · Spain
Annotation
The Post-Punk song "Noche de paz, noche en Vietnam" ( "Silent night, Night in Vietnam" ) (DRO # DRO-017) by Camaleones, from Spain. The lyrics are hand-written in the record booklet, which are hard to decipher. The narrator said that "a pact was made for this inferno war" , and it referenced Ronald Reagan, the racist US group the KKK, and NATO: "god entrusted to Ronald Reagan and took down his gang, Nato, the mafia, and the Ku-Klux-Klan" Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
No one lays down their arms, there is no one, a pact was made for this inferno war
God entrusted to Ronald Reagan and took down his gang
Nato
The mafia and the Ku-Klux-Klan
Converted into punk
That gives them a safety pin coco badges and a design
I was looking for so sublime that I can give it up
On December 28 this dream can be achieved by occupying the covers of the world garment
Spanish
Nadie depone las armas no hay, un pacto die plado pado esta guerro inferno
Dios confiado a Ronald Reagan y tombien a su cuadrilla
La otan
La mafia y el Ku-Klux-Klan
Convertidos en punk
Que les poresta un imperdible,coco chapas y un diseraz
Se busco tan sublime que cos puedo paricor
El 28 de dicembre este sueno se puede lograr ocudando las portadas de la prenja mundial
Themes: Civil Rights Religion
Also in: ▤ Civil Rights Songs▤ European Songs
#33 The F.U.'s Green Beret 1982 · This Is Boston Not L.A. · Modern Method # MM 012 · USA
Theme: Anti-War
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#34 Marc S. Hogan If You Ever Want to Leave Viet Nam 1982 · Single · If You Ever Want to Leave Viet Nam / Sometimes Love Will End · H.M.S. · USA
Notes
- Post punk, 80s - starts will helicopter sound effects - Combat description - Reference to napalm [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]1983
#35 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
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ PTSD Songs
#36 The Satellites Vietnam 1983 · Single · Vietnam / Lucy Is a Prostitute / I Fell in Love With a Lesbian · Brickyard # EOR 1 · UK
Annotation
Formed in Action, West London, in 1977, this Punk Rock group featured Derek Gibbs (vocals), Robert Deacon (guitar), John Johnson (bass), Danny Heatley (drums). They lasted six years, releasing four 7" singles and one LP, which contained a lot of political material.12 This 1983 single included the song "Vietnam" (Brickyard Records # EOR 1) which began with rotating helicopter sound-effects, and then the lead vocalist repeated the line: "US army and the Vietcong, drop LSD, and drop napalm". The picture sleeve featured a photograph of helicopters flying, superimposed over a map of Vietnam.Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Brickyard Records EOR 1 ("UK Cat No EOR 1"), 45 rpm, ℗ 1983, made in UK; label reads "This side: Vietnam", "Other side: Lucy Is a Prostitute / I Fell in Love With a Lesbian", all titles (Satellites), Rondercrest.The front of the picture sleeve shows a photograph of Huey helicopters coming in over troops, set on a map of South Vietnam (Kontum, Quang-Ngai, Qui Nhon, Saigon), with an Eeyore drawing captioned "The UK Eeyore In".
The back carries portraits of the band in fatigues: Dr Strangelove (vocals), Sneak (guitar), Johnny πr² (bass & bottle), with backing vocals by Peabo Wesley & Gary Drew. It also reads "Written, produced & performed by The Satellites", engineered by Pascal Gabrial, recorded at Gateway, portraits by Kenny Anderson, graphics by Flat Earth Enterprises, ℗© 1983 Brickyard Records, distributed in the UK by Pinnacle. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#37 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....
Also in: ▤ European Songs▤ PTSD Songs
#38 The First Things Johnny Viet 1983 · EP · A Nation of Employees · Hysterical # HA-EP001 · USA
Annotation
Post-Punk group based in Champaign, Illinois, USA, featuring the members: Mel Eberle (bass), Pete Govert (guitar), Steve Foster, Mike Majdic, and Davin Carey. They released the song "Johnny Viet" (Hysterical Records # HA-EP001), which used the Vietnam War in its title, although the song is about the conflict in Ireland: "Emerald Isle...IRA and UDA don't mean a thing" - the UDA is the Ulster Defence Association, an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, and the IRA is a paramilitary group which supports an independent republic free from British rule. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
The sands of the times were plowing at his back
His patron saint was lucky...
The Emerald Isle was sinking at last
Who ya for?
It doesn't matter
What ya doing?
Wasting time...
It doesn't matter
Said all I want is to ?...
The bells of the church were ringing fast
Caught in the middle of a violent past
Exporting it's hate in today's path
Who ya for?
IRA and UDA don't mean a thing
Freckles and fair skinned ?...
They see a package ?....
Rubber bullets make it hard to go home
Themes: Ireland Troubles Vietnam Analogy
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#39 Mourning Noise Radical 1983 · Compilation · Hardcore Takes Over: Dirt Compilation 2 · Dirt # DR-003 · USA
Annotation
Formed in 1981, the New Jersey Horror Punk / Hardcore Punk band Mourning Noise released the track "Radical" (Dirt Records # DR-003), dedicated to those that died at Kent State. A live track, it featured on this 1983 compilation of hardcore punk bands. The group have often be classified as horror punk - a blend of punk rock, rockabilly, and horror themes, with references to B-movie and cult horror films. As mentioned, it started with a dedication: "this goes out to all the people that died at Kent State" . The lyrics seemed to be from the perspective of a National Guardsmen, who claimed that the "system" supported "neo-commie needs" . He declared himself a "radical, fanatical...right wing" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
We don't wanna be no fool, we don't wanna stay in school
This whole system only feeds the latest neo-commie needs
We're radical, fanatical, we're radical, right wing!
Teacher, teacher won't you teach, instead of acting like the preacher
Feed your bullshit to the birds, 'cause all we need are common words
Theme: Kent State
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Kent / Jackson State Songs
#40 Ratos de Porão Novo Vietnam 1983 · Album · O Começo do Fim do Mundo · Brazil
Annotation
Ratos de Porão, a Brazilian Hardcore Punk band, formed on 13 November 1981 in São Paulo, released the song "Novo Vietnam" (# 526.404.474) on this various artist compilation. The group used the Vietnam War to make a contemporary comment on Brazil: "Brazil will be the new Vietnam" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Let's turn Brazil into a new Vietnam
Where your fears will end or they will multiply
And no one will help, if not I'll help help
Brazil will be the new Vietnam
But here you can not accumulate in a conclusion
We will have to get and no one will stop us
Because we are right and we will win
Brazil will be the new Vietnam
Theme: Vietnam Analogy
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#41 Razzia Helden von Nordvietnam 1983 · Compilation · Waterkant-Hits · Weird System # 1 · Germany
Annotation
Razzia, a Deutschpunk group from Hamburg, formed in 1979, released the song "Helden von Nordvietnam" (Weird System Recordings # 001) which appeared on this various artist collection. The song was a tribute to the "heroes of North Vietnam and the partisans from the Viet Cong" - the Vietcong (or "VC") - the National Liberation Front (NFL), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam. The song noted the US military's use of napalm: "On the run from napalm and gas" - 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 Note that this song was covered by metal band Yacøpsæ - Apokalypse / Helden von Nordvietnam (2012), the front cover of which featured the famous picture of the "Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém".14Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
They never shied away from danger
In the fight against troops from the USA
They were born in the jungle and many lost their lives there
We remember the heroes of North Vietnam and the partisans of the Viet Cong
But from Ba Donh to the Red River, terror swept down from the air
Fleeing napalm and gas, their children became fodder for the bombs
We remember the heroes of North Vietnam and the partisans of the Viet Cong
But they made the last move
Even when the jungle no longer bore any leaves
And they didn't stop shooting until the Yanks left their country
We remember the heroes of North Vietnam and the partisans of the Viet Cong
German
Sie scheutten niemals die Gefahr
Im kampf gegen Truppen de USA
Im dschungel waren sie geboren und viele haben dortinr leben verloren
Wir gedenken der Helden von NordVietnam und den Partisanen vom vietcong
Doch von Ba Donh bis Zum Roten, Fluss fegte der terror aus der luft
Auf der Flucht vor napalm und gas wurden ihre kinder zum bombenfrass
Wir gedenken der Helden von NordVietnam und den Partisanen vom vietcong
Doch sie machten den letzten zug
Selbst als der Dschungel kein laub mehr trug
Und sie hielten nicht auf zu schiessen, bis die Amis Ihrland verliessen
Wir gedenken der Helden von NordVietnam und den Partisanen vom vietcong
Genres: ♪ PunkDeutschpunk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#42 Cortex Napalm Sticks to Kids 1983 · Album · Spinal Injuries · Heartwork # HWLP 07 · Sweden
Annotation
Post-Punk group Cortex, formed in 1980 in Göteborg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. The group disbanded in 1987. Formed by Freddie Wadling, with a rotating line-up. They released a version of the well-known song "Napalm Sticks to Kids" , a brutal portrayal on the use of napalm in Vietnam: "dropping frags on refugees... All the children they have burned... If one's pregnant it's two for one" - 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 1973.123This song was thought to have been originally written and performed by US soldiers in Vietnam ("in-country"), such as by the First of the Ninth Chorus, a group formed by troopers of the 1st of the 9th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division, recorded on tape in 1970 at Phuc Vinh, in South Vietnam.4 A more well-known version was recorded in the US by the Covered Wagon Musicians, active-duty US GIs, against the Vietnam War, featured on the album We Say No to Your War! (1972) - the booklet of this record credited the song to "Air Force and Army GIs attached to the 1st Air Cavalry in Vietnam. Recited by Sgt. John Boychuk....a group of GIs sat down one night in a hootch in Vietnam to write these words. Each person made a verse about an incident in which he had taken part and the poem expresses their collective bitterness toward the military that had turned them into murderers".5
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
See that bomber by the trees
Pilots doing what they please
Dropping frags on refugees
Napalm sticks to kids
It sticks to you, ohhh
All the mayhem they have learned
All the godsend they have earned
All the children they have burned
It sticks to me, it sticks to you
See the family on the run
Killing gooks is much-o fun
If one's pregnant it's two for one
Napalm sticks to kids
Napalm sticks to kids (burn, burn, baby!)
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#43 Disrupters Napalm 1983 · Album · Unrehearsed Wrongs · Radical Change # RCLP1 · UK
Annotation
Disrupters, an Anarcho-Punk group, sub-genre of Punk Rock, formed in 1980, in Norwich, Norfolk, UK. Its members included: Steve Hansell (vocals), Kevin Wymer (drums), Paul Greener (guitar), Steve Hough (bass), Andrew Gibson (guitar), Tim Perkins (bass), Prem Nick (spoken word), Steve Hardy (guitar), Mash (bass). The song "Napalm" (Radical Change Records # RCLP1) was about the use of chemical weapon Napalm B during the Vietnam War - 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 1973.123Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
We've got some napalm.... we'll bomb your village... and spill your guts
We want to hear you scream...
We are the master race... You haven't got too long
We've got some napalm
Napalm
Napalm
Napalm...
Theme: Napalm
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#44 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). 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
Sources
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?
Also in: ▤ European Songs▤ PTSD Songs
#45 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
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ PTSD Songs
#46 Knockabouts Where's My Vietnam 1983 · Compilation · Barricaded Suspects · Toxic Shock # TOXLP 01 · USA
Annotation
Knockabouts, Hardcore Punk band from Huntsville, Alabama, formed in 1982, featuring Greg Sklaka (drums), Donnie Sharp (vocals), Randy Sanders (bass), Rusty Jackson (guitars), and Steve Tallyn (bass).1 The song "Where's My Vietnam?" featured on this various artist compilation (Toxic Shock Records # TOXLP 01). It also originally appeared on the group's 1983 demo cassette Angry Young Men, and then on the 1995 EP On Suffering Remembered (Prank Records # PRANK 02). This song lamented the apathy and lack of social action in the narrator's generation, as the "kids today...play video games, watch TV, smoke pot" . The narrator looked back to the Vietnam War generation: "hippies demanded their rights" . The narrator was "looking for my Vietnam" . Thus, this is a good example of an artist using the Vietnam protest movement as a historical case study to compare to the lack of contemporary protest. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
The kids today got no real reason to exist
They play video games, watch TV, smoke pot...
They never wonder: "Is my neighbor a Commie?"
No! I really don't care! I used to want peace...
No one has a reason, no one has a cause
No one thinks that's, cause for alarm
Go turn your TV, there you'll see me
Looking for my Vietnam, looking for my Vietnam
Hippies demanded their rights
I seen them fight for them in the streets
I would have the same if people weren't so lame
So what do we get? A world as cold and dead as me
The future is red with your blood on the sand
I cannot find any Vietnams
Tell me, where the hell is my Vietnam?
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#47 USA Today Another Vietnam 1983 · Demo · Freedom Isn't Free · Not On Label · USA
Theme: Vietnam Analogy
Genre: ♪ Punk
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
1984
#48 Asta Kask Vietnamn 1984 · EP · En Tyst Minut... · Skvaller # PROFIT 001 · Sweden
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group Formed in 1978 in Töreboda, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. Disbanded in 1986. Members included: Members Micke (vocals, guitar), Bonni (vocals, guitar), Ernie (bass, vocals), Dadde (drums), Pelle, Uffe, Steve Aktiv, and Bjurre. They released the song "Vietnam" (PROFIT 001), which was about Agent Orange - the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. It is frequently referenced in post-war songs. The narrator described Vietnam as "a pointless war" . It described the US as "eradicating pigs with gas, a herbicide called Agent Orange" . They sprayed it over Vietnam and the "leaves of the trees fell off" . However, children were "born without arms and legs" , and that the "Vietnamese men were blind, got cancer, and died" because of poisoned rice.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
During a pointless war
When freedom and peace was not given
Then came the United States at the idea
Eradicating pigs with gas
A herbicide called "Agent Orange"
Spray... over Vietnam /When the leaves of the trees fell off
Then stood up proudly USA
But whose fault was it that the children
Was born without arms and legs
The rice that was given to the people
That it was poisoned by gas
That Vietnamese men were blind, got cancer, and died
Only then was it someone said
This we blame on the U.S.
But the U.S. they did it again
We remember the August '45
Then several million died
So that U.S. research had enough
Swedish
Under ett meningslöst krig
Då frihet och fred inte gavs
Då kom USA på idén
Utrota svinen med gas
Ett växtgift som hette "AGENT ORANGE"
Sprutades över Vietnam
När bladen från träden föll av
Då reste sig stolt USA
Men vems fel var det då att barn
Föddes utan armar och ben
Att riset som åt människorna gavs
Att det var förgiftat av gas
Att vietnamesiska män
Blev blinda, fick cancer och dog
Först då var det någon som sa
Detta skyller vi på USA
Men USA dom klarade det igen
Vi minns ju augusti '45
Då flera millioner dog
Så att USAs forskning fick nog
Theme: Agent Orange
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#49 The Gynecologists Kent State 1984 · Album · A Goat...You Geek · Gravelvoice # GVR-003 · USA
Annotation
The Hardcore Punk band The Gynecologist, from Bloomington, Indiana, released the song "Kent State" (Gravelvoice # GVR-003) on this 1983 cassette album. The lead singer Tommy Afterbirth wrote twisted, violent lyrics about sex, and his obsession with Republican politics - he was a delegate at the 1976 and 1980 Republican National Convention.1 The opening track called "Ron and Nancy" focused on President Ronald Reagan and the first lady - in fact, the grotesque front cover featured a photo of Nancy Reagan's face superimposed onto a woman, with a dog mounted on her backside. In this song he rallied against left-wingers, and the "burn-out hippies...protesting the Vietnam War" . He shouted that "it was funny when the commies got killed at Kent State" and brutally declared that the "traitors don't even deserve a burial" . The song also brought in 1980s politics, criticising those that wanted the US to stay out of El Salvador.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Shoot them in the head, reload
Burn-outs hippies...
Protesting the Vietnam War...
Say US out of El Salvador, reload, reload...
You're American, it was funny
When the commies got killed at Kent State
Those traitors don't even deserve a burial
Theme: Kent State
Also in: ▤ Kent / Jackson State Songs
#50 Minutemen Viet Nam 1984 · Album · Double Nickels on the Dime · SST # SST 028 · USA
Annotation
The Minutemen, a Post-Punk / Art Punk band, formed in 1980 in San Pedro, California. Its membership included Mike Watt (bass, vocals), D. Boon (guitar, vocals), Frank Tonche (drums, 1980), and George Hurley (drums, 1980-85). They disbanded in 1985 following the death of D. Boon on 22 December.12 The group released a couple songs that referenced the Vietnam War, including "Viet Nam" (1984) on Double Nickels on the Dime, and "The Price of Paradise" (1985) on 3-Way Tie (For Last). They also released many anti-Reagan songs in the period. D. Boon, the songwriter, who grew up with the daily news of the Vietnam War, heavily criticised the US government's reasoning behind the conflict in the song "Viet Nam" (SST Records # SST 028). The lyrics are straightforward and to the point, with the song lasting only one minute and thirty seconds. It pointed out that 50,000 Americans lost their lives in the former French colony under orders from the president. The narrator suggested that the politicians manipulated the masses. Despite 10 years of fighting "not one domino" fell - a reference to 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 and threaten the US - the idea of which came from President Eisenhower, during a press conferences on 7 April 1954.3
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
They say I got a number, that number is 50,000...
Well, here we are, in French Indo-China, executive order...
The white kid masses, are manipulated, is this our policy?
10 long years, not one domino shall fall
#51 Conflict Vietnam Serenade 1984 · Album · Increase the Pressure · Mortarhate # MORT 6 · UK
Annotation
This British Anarcho-Punk band formed in Eltham, South London in 1981. The original line up included Colin Jerwood (vocals), Francisco Carreno (drums), Big John (bass guitar), Steve (guitars), and Pauline (vocals). They used the Vietnam conflict to warn the US against further interventionist policies under President Reagan in the song "Vietnam Serenade" - released on their own record label, Mortarhate Records (# MORT 6). The narrator argued that whether or not a country had a communist or fascist regime, the US ought to avoid war. However, because "they were not on the wrong end of napalm" , the government and military continued to seek out "power and glory" . They concluded the song be posing the question: "will Vietnam be the forerunner to El Salvador?" - a reference to US intervention in the Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992). The US supplied large amounts of military aid to the military-led government against left-wing guerrilla groups. Note: Napalm B, classified as a chemical weapon, caused devastating burn wounds - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government used it extensively during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973. The Dow Chemical Company, the largest suppler of napalm to the US military, became a target of Vietnam protests.12
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
It don't really matter if it's communist red
Or whether it's fascism that causes the fatal blow to the head
America still don't realise its mistake in 'Nam
But they were not on the wrong end of the napalm
They still carry on their search for power and glory...
Will Vietnam be the forerunner to El Salvador?
#52 Shockabilly Vietnam 1984 · Album · Fundamental # SAVE-1 · USA
Annotation
A short lived New York noise rock / Psychobilly band (a sub-genre of Punk Rock) (1982-1985), led by Eugene Chadbourne, which did an interesting cover of the John Lee Hooker song I Don't Want to Go to Vietnam, mixed with news extracts played faintly in the background. A very politically charged album (Fundamental # SAVE-1), it used Vietnam to remind the listeners of the possible consequences of US foreign interventions. They linked the war to Ronald Reagan's involvement with Nicaragua and Iran.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Themes: Nicaragua Vietnam Analogy
Genres: ♪ PunkPsychobilly
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#53 Flowers in the Dustbin Last Tango in Vietnam 1984 · EP · Freaks Run Wild in the Disco · All the Madmen # MAD 7 · UK
Annotation
Anarcho-Punk group, Flowers in the Dustbin, formed in 1983 in London, UK, featuring: Gerard Evans (vocals), Simon Barry (guitar), Chas Loft (bass), Bill Mahoney (drums), Antje Klaehn (guitar), and John Howells (keyboards). The song "Last Tango in Vietnam" (All the Madmen Records # MAD 7), took an anti-war position, looking back at the conflict in Vietnam, described as " a third world war torn country" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Have an orgasm in oslo bay-bee
Take a trip the the ussa
We’re dancing on a timebomb baybee
We might be gone tomorrow but we’re here today
Dancing in the decadence – your perfume smells
Not paying any pittance – and your complex tells
In open wounds of countries – they’re staring at your make-up
Dancing in the disease – wild, huh?
See you feel so happy
Dancing in a third world war torn country
Drop all your chains – let yourself go
Claw out your brains – leave them at home
Pull a stupid face – don’t work, get a tan
Lets leave the human race – in Vietnam
Make up for years of being trussed
For all those boring years get one year sussed
Dancing with maleria, dancing with polio
Dancing in your wheel chair, go go go
Theme: Anti-War
Genres: ♪ PunkAnarcho Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#54 Husker Du Newest Industry 1984 · Album · Zen Arcade · SST # 27 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk / Alternative Rock group, formed in 1979 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. The group disbanded on 17 December 1987 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Membership included: Bob Mould (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, percussion, bass), Grant Hart (vocals, drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, vibraphone, slide whistle), Greg Norton (bass, vocals), Charlie Pine (keyboards, 1979). The song "Newest Industry" ( SST Records # SST 027) contained general Cold War atomic imagery, referencing the Vietnam War: "Well, Vietnam was Little League compared to where we've been" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
We been through mass destruction once
But once was not enough
We said we want a second chance
And all they say is tough
A world where science went too far
There's no way to survive
Why can't we get this thing straightened out
'Cause I wanna stay alive
They burned and bombed the east and north
And there's no place left to go
The Sun Belt's overcrowded
So let's annex Mexico...
We used it all to fight a war that neither side could win
Well, Vietnam was Little League compared to where we've been...
We'll sign up for the newest industry
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#55 Tarnfarbe Agent Orange 1984 · Album · Heroes of Today · Rat # RR 040 · Germany
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 1982 in Neuwied, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. They disbanded in 2003. The 80s line-up featured: William Faber (drums, 1982-86), Michael Breiler (guitar, 1982-96), Ralf Weidauer (vocals, bass, 1983-2003), Guido Reich (guitar, 1983-84), Siggi Kuhl (vocals, 1983-84), Stefan Ziehn (bass, drums, 1985-88). Firstly, this album (Rat Records # RR 04) contained a cover of "Agent Orange" , by the The Destructors (released on their 1982 EP Religion! There is No Religion!) - a reference to the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical: "you’re victim of chemical warfare... Agent Orange pollutes the waters, and deforms your sons and daughters" . The lyrics also reference napalm: "napalm will burn all around, you’re victim of American aggression" - 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 1973.123Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Warplanes in the sky and you wonder why
Because when the bomb hits the ground
The napalm will burn all around
You’re victim of American aggression
You’re victim of chemical warfare
You’re victim of technological oppression
You’re victim of push-button warfare
For total war civilian stands
In the centre of the battleground
And this insidious chemical warfare
Will ultimately affect his welfare
And children with flesh burnt to the bones
Ruining your TV-dinners in your homes
And with your taxes you pay for carnage
And to your armed forces paid homage
Agent Orange pollutes the waters
And deforms your sons and daughters
But you hide it from your eyes
And cover it with government lies
And sleep happy in your beds
And never think about the dead
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#56 Tarnfarbe Saigon 1984 · Album · Heroes of Today · Rat # RR 040 · Germany
Annotation
The song "Saigon" . This contained strong anti-war sentiment, referenced P.O.W.s, PTSD, drug use, and focused on the indiscriminate killing of civilian, referencing the use of napalm: "to burn the land with napalm, you slaughter innocent women and kids" . The lyrics looked at the negative impact of the war on soldiers and possible veterans, both physically: "see your friend loosing both of his legs" , and mentally, with 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: "blow your mind to bits... you cry... closer to insanity step by step" . The song also noted the use of drugs in Vietnam: "take a lotta drugs to mitigate your pain" . Finally, the song made a reference to being held a prisoner of war (P.O.W.) in North Vietnam: "torture in Vietcong’s captivity... somewhere between Saigon and Hanoi" . Vietcong (or "VC") referred to the National Liberation Front (NFL), the political and military resistance to the US and South Vietnamese government from within South Vietnam.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
You send your forces to Vietnam
To burn the land with napalm
You slaughter innocent women and kids
The war will blow your mind to bits
And you stop, you cry, you cry
You known why: cause you too, soon will die
You see your friend loosing both of his legs
You get closer to insanity step by step
You take a lotta drugs to mitigate your pain
Although you realize that they’re driving you insane
You can’t stand war’s brutality
And the torture in Vietcong’s captivity
You know somewhere between Saigon and Hanoi
Your rotten life will be destroyed
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#57 Putrid Fever Vietnam '83 1984 · Album · Demo · Not On Label · Italy
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group from Firenze, Toscana, Italy, featuring the members: Andrea Salani, Daniela Petrova, Federico Forconi, and Marco Cellini. They released the song "Vietnam '83" , which was largely an instrumental, apart from shouting "Saigon" in the intro. The song was re-issued on the 1994 compilation Do You Remember? (Flowers of Grain # F.O.G. 004). The back of that LP said:Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
In the early eighties, when tattoos were still considered to be permanent disfigurements, and the only social centres in Italy were the 'Virus' in Milan and the 'Victor Charlie' in Pisa, four sinister individuals got together to form a group... this group was to be a milestone in GDHC (Granducato Hardcore scene, in Florence)
Theme: Saigon
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#58 Paranoia Vietnam 1984 · Album · Shattered Glass · Rot # ASS11 · UK
Annotation
Anarcho-Punk / Post-Punk group, formed in 1983 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK, featuring Janet Egginton (vocals), Paul Brereton (guitar), Russ Lovatt (guitar), Mick Egginton (bass, backing vocals), and Phil Brereton (drums). The song "Vietnam" (Rot Records # ASS11) took an anti-war position, presenting the grim reality of war: "bloody hell in Vietnam... smell the fear... death and no glory" . It contained a small 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: "Lose your mind in Vietnam" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I've been shipped away to Vietnam
It's a bloody hell in Vietnam
You can smell the fear in Vietnam
Wish you knew we're here in Vietnam
I've been shipped away to Vietnam
Dreaming about leaving Vietnam
Leave your world behind in Vietnam
Lose your mind in Vietnam
Vietnam
I've been shipped away to Vietnam
Fighting for my country in Vietnam
Death and no glory in Vietnam
You could write a story about Vietnam
Vietnam
Theme: Draft
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ European Songs
#59 Television Personalities Back to Vietnam 1984 · Album · The Painted Word · Illuminated # JAMS 37 · UK
Annotation
British Post-Punk, neo-Psychedelic group, formed in London in 1977, led by song-writer Daniel Treacy (guitars and vocals), the sole constant member of a revolving line-up. According to the linear notes of this album, the group recorded the songs in 1982/83 at the 'Hit Factory', featuring David Musker, Mark Flunder, Ingrid Weiss, David Walmsley and Martin Kerry-Daley. It also included Joe Foster on bass, also known as Slaughter Joe, who released the Vietnam-related song Napalm Girl (Creation Records # CRE 019) in 1985. The 7-minute plus song "Back to Vietnam" (Illuminated Records # JAMS 37) dealt with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It described a war veteran dreaming of "running in the jungle" , who then woke up screaming, thinking that the government might send him back to Vietnam. It is then revealed that the veteran lived in an institution, wheelchair bound. The track also included a double-meaning, as the narrator took a general anti-war stance: "it's all the same: Vietnam, Korea, First World War, Argentina, Falkland Islands, another war, what is it for?" - thus, the group used the Vietnam example as a way to protest against the UK's involvement in the 1982 Falkland's War. Note the reference to Richard Nixon in the final line. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
He wakes up screaming, he wakes up in a cold sweat
He dreams he's going to get a letter in the post
Telling him he's been called up again
They're calling up the national guard
They'll send him back...back to Vietnam
He's running in the jungle, he's running with a bayonet, with a machine gun...
The enemy he can't see...but...knows they're there
He's aware and all around he hears gunfire
He's caught on fire, he's so frightened...
They're bringing back conscription, they're going to give everyone over seventeen a gun
And the housewife in the kitchen all she can think of is what to give her husband for tea...
Do we have to go through it all again?
It's all the same: Vietnam, Korea, First World War., Argentina, Falkland Islands, another war, what is it for?
Now he's in a home for Vietnam refugees
He's frightened, he's in an institution
He's in a wheelchair
War is the last creative act
I thought we might of learned some lesson
Richard Nixon on Channel Eleven, I heard it first
Genres: ♪ RockIndie Rock
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ European Songs
#60 Stone the Crowz Deaf to Death 1984 · Album · Suffer Little Children · Endangered # ED2 · UK
Annotation
Deaf to Death. Punk
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ PunkAnarcho Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
1985
#61 Slaughter Joe Napalm Girl 1985 · Single · I'll Follow You Down · Creation # CRE019T · UK
Annotation
Slaughter, also known as "Slaughter Joe", was Joe Foster, the bass player from Television Personalities, born 9 August 1960 in Bloomsbury, London, UK, and currently based in Glasgow, UK. The Punk Rock song "Napalm Girl" (Creation Records # CRE 019) is presumably a reference to Phan Thị Kim Phúc, referred to informally as the Napalm girl, a South Vietnamese-born women, who was famously pictured at the age of 9, in 1972, running naked on a road after being burned in a napalm attack in South Vietnam. The photo was taken by Nick Ut, which won a Pulitzer Prize, and is one of the defining images of the Vietnam War.1 Chemical weapon Napalm B is 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 1973.234 So in this song the group use sharp, fast noisy guitar sounds to present a napalm attack: "wish I'd never seen... get down... on your hands and knees" . Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
....Oh, I've seen something I wish I'd never, never, seen, oh honey get down, get down, like this
Oh I've seen you down on your hands and knees...
Oh honey get down now, get down, like this
Oh, I've seen you crawling....
Themes: Napalm Napalm Girl
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#62 Complete Control Back in Vietnam 1985 · Album · Bricks Blood 'n' Guts (In 1985) · Oi! # OIR 001 · UK
Annotation
Oi! group, a sub-genre of Punk Rock, formed in Austin, Texas, USA. They released the song "Back in Vietnam" (Oi! Records # OIR 001) about the impact of the war on a Vietnam veteran: "back in Vietnam...lost his mind" . The soldier "didn't want to go home in a body bag" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Back in Vietnam where he lost his mind...
Lost...didn't want to go home in a body bag...
Back in Vietnam
Back in Vietnam yeah...
You're in overdrive
Went along just for the ride
Fucked-up...streaming through the swamps...
Back in Vietnam
Back in Vietnam...
You're a mess... full of regrets...
Theme: Vet
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#63 Minutemen The Price of Paradise 1985 · Album · 3-Way Tie (For Last) · SST # 58 · USA
Annotation
The Minutemen, a Post-Punk / Art Punk band, formed in 1980 in San Pedro, California. Its membership included Mike Watt (bass, vocals), D. Boon (guitar, vocals), Frank Tonche (drums, 1980), and George Hurley (drums, 1980-85). They disbanded in 1985 following the death of D. Boon on 22 December.12 The group released a couple songs that referenced the Vietnam War, including "Viet Nam" (1984) on Double Nickels on the Dime, and "The Price of Paradise" (1985) on 3-Way Tie (For Last). They also released many anti-Reagan songs in the period. The song "The Price of Paradise" (SST Records # SST 058), written by D. Boon, is narrated from the point of view of a boy whose brother went to Vietnam. It argued that the older politicians did not value the lives of the young: "here in paradise the price is cheap, young men die for greed...they fight for men twice their age" . The narrator believed that the government / military misled the people and soldiers about the objectives of the "unjust" war. The song also commented on the impact of the war on the soldiers: "the smell of death made his life change" . D. Boon painted the front cover of this album, released just before his death - the final Minutemen album. Recorded in August–September 1985.1
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
How I remember the history I have seen
I was just a young boy, the horror I couldn't foresee
All the pain that comes with war
All the scars that never heal
Here in paradise the price is cheap
Young men die for greed
Across the ocean, in a land they call Vietnam
Young men dying is all it would cost
We were told and proudly believed
They would fight to keep us free...
My brother, the soldier, was a hero....
He'd tell the stories of men who died...
And they fight for men twice their age
The smell of death made his life change...
All pawns and puppets of flesh and bone
Will die for their leaders far from their homes
These are men who died very young
Afraid to see that their cause was unjust
Why couldn't they live for life? Not die to survive
Theme: Anti-Government
#64 External Menace Vietnam 1985 · Compilation · A Kick Up the Arse · Rot # ASS 21 · UK
Annotation
External Menace, a UK82 group, a type of Hardcore Punk, released the song "Vietnam" (Rot Records # ASS 21) on this various artist compilation. The group formed in 1979 in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, UK, led by John “Sneddy” Sneddon. According to the group, "the 22" in the lyrics "refers to the victims of a mass shooting by a Vietnam Vet in a fast food restaurant, which was the inspiration for the song". This is known as the "San Ysidro McDonald's massacre".1Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I'd like to know there's something preying on my mind
I'd like to know how someone can prey on their own kind
Gotta make him blind
Won't you be upstanding for Mr USA
I bet you I know something the 22 would say
If they were here today
They've got their man, Vietnam
Down in Vietnam
Won't you come again, Vietnam
They've got their man, come again
They disengage in contact
My friends lie all around
If they had stuck together, it doesn't work we've found
The body bags go down
I'm dreaming about a nightmare in a place I never was
They brag about the outcome, I want to know the cause
I want to see the applause
Vietnam, they've got their man
Won't you come again to Vietnam
Vietnam they've got their man
And Uncle Sam SOLO Un-be-liev-able
Theme: Vet
Also in: ▤ European Songs
1986
#65 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
Also in: ▤ European Songs▤ PTSD Songs
#66 The Girls Vietcong Women 1986 · Album · Reunion · Brasch # BR102 · USA
Annotation
Synth Punk / Art Punk group, formed in 1977 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Members included: Robin Amos (synthesizer), Daved Hild (drums, vocals), Mark Dagley (guitar, vocals), and George Condo (bass). The song "Vietcong Women" (Brasch Records # BR102), is of course a reference to the Vietcong (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
Lyrics
English
Vietcong women carry guns....
Vietnamese women....
Chinese women wear hats...
Just you remember that
Vietnamese women...
Vietcong women carry guns
German women carry rockets in their pockets...
Vietcong women carry guns
Spanish women marry fascists....
Vietcong women carry guns
African women wear no clothes....
Vietcong women carry guns...
Vietnamese women...
#67 Deja Voodoo Vietcong 1986 · Album · Swamp of Love · OG # OG11 · Canada
Annotation
VietcongPunk. Formed 1981, Montreal, QC, Canada
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: VC
Genres: ♪ PunkGarage Punk
#68 MDC Drink to Forget 1986 · Album · Smoke Signals · R Radical # MDC-4 · USA
Notes
Drink to ForgetHardcore 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
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ PTSD Songs
1987
#69 Dead Milkmen Beach Party Vietnam 1987 · Album · Eat Your Paisley · Restless # 72131-1 · USA
Annotation
The Dead Milkmen formed in 1979 - an American Punk Rock band from Pennsylvania. They had a revolving line-up. This album, Eat Your Paisley!, released in 1986 featured Joe Jack Talcum (guitar, vocals), Dave Blood (bass), Dean Clean (drums), Rodney Anonymous (vocals). The song "Beach Party Vietnam" (Fever Records # 72131-1) took a comedic and tasteless approach to the conflict. It told the story of a boy who "got a letter from his Uncle Sam" and ended up in Vietnam "surfin' with the Viet Cong, cookin' hot dogs with napalm" . His girlfriend wanted to give him her ring, but he lost both his arms in the war. This song also featured as the B-side of the single The Thing That Only Eats Hippies released in 1987 - the only single from this album. The reference to surfing, napalm, and a beach party displays the influence of Vietnam War films on American culture. In the film Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by the political liberal and dove Francis Ford Coppola, Captain Kilgore (Robert Duvall) of the Air Cavalry attacks a Vietcong held village while playing Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" on the loud speakers of his helicopter. Once on the ground, Kilgore strips of his shirt and scarf and prepares to go surfing with explosions and gunshots all around. As fighter jets bomb the forest behind the Vietcong village, Kilgore says happily "I love the smell of napalm in the morning….smells like victory". A similar theme is found in the song "Charlie Don't Surf" by The Clash on the album Sandinista! (1980).
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
It's a beach party Vietnam, surfin' with the Viet Cong
Cookin' hot dogs with napalm, a beach party Vietnam
Frankie and Annette were layin' on the sand
When Frank got a letter from his Uncle Sam
It said: Get Moon Dog and all your friends
You're all invited to a beach party Vietnam
'Hey Frankie, aren't you gonna give me your class ring?'
'Oh I'm afraid I can't do that, Annette'
'Why not?' ''Cause I don't have any arms!'
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs
#70 Workin Muthas Vietnam 1987 · EP · Acid Rain · KML # SMEG-8 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group from the 1980s based in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. They released the song "Vietnam" (KML Records # SMEG-8), on a Pensacola, Florida-based record label.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#71 Jello Biafra Vietnam Never Happened 1987 · Album · No More Cocoons · Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 59 · USA
Annotation
Jello Biafra, from Colorado, US, known for his satirical, spoken-word and punk records throughout the 80s and 90s, including membership of the well-known Hardcore Punk group Dead Kennedys. He released two spoken-word tracks as a solo artist regarding the Vietnam War: "Vietnam Never Happened" (1987) and "Die for Oil, Sucker" (1991). He also released the song "Wish I Was Back in El Salvador" (1989) which referenced the Vietnam War, in collaboration with Hardcore Punk group D.O.A.. With the Dead Kennedys, he released the Vietnam-related songs "Holiday in Cambodia" (1980) and "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now" (1981). This release was a spoken-word, comedy album, featuring the track "Vietnam Never Happened" (Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 59), a post-war, 1980s take on the war, which referenced the Kent State shooting, Agent Orange, the Military-industrial complex, drugs, the draft, Vietnamese orphans, and took an anti-war, protest position, comparing the cultural treatment of the war to an "amusement park...with fun for the entire family" .
This included the killing of four students at Kent State University on the 4 May 1970, at a protest against the Cambodia incursion: "be apart of the action at Kent State... show those demonstrators who's the boss" . It noted the use of Agent Orange, the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. It is frequently referenced in post-war songs: "kids, they'll love our petting zoo...full of children deformed by Agent Orange" . Also of note was the reference to orphans: "orphan left behind by some fun-loving Yankee soldier" . Furthermore, the track referred to the self-immolation of monks, which recalls one of the defining images of the Vietnam conflict - Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk, who burnt himself to death in Saigon on 11 June 1963: "thrill, to Buddhist priest who set themselves on fire at noon" .
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Vietnam never happened...
Amusement park is now pulled over our eyes
With fun for the entire family
Thrill, to Buddhist priest who set themselves on fire at noon
Be apart of the action at Kent State, and show those demonstrators who's the boss in our revolving Dirty Harry merry-go-round
Then it's on to the defence industry kickback bumper cars
Go ahead, blow them up, we'll just replace then at 20 times the price
Then unwind with your favourite hard drugs at our famous outdoor shooting gallery....
Play miniature golf with live grenades
Our peace with honour rollercoaster will destroy your in order to save you
The kids, they'll love our petting zoo, where you can feed over-priced with Donald land cookies to our pen full of children deformed by Agent Orange
Then, if you're really brave, how about the haunted house...
You'll feel what its like as your sealed in a warm body bag while CIA operators slit your stomach open to stuff you full of heroin baggies to send home to mother...
Is that getting a bit much?
Just go quietly where we want you, to our video arcade
When you come out three day later pick a prize from the pet shop
A mixed blood orphan left behind by some fun-loving Yankee soldier
Consolation prize: a years supply of blank draft notices
Just fill in the names of your friends and your enemies
And give them the surprise of their life by mail
They'll go quietly
You'll see
Vietnam never happened
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#72 La Sect Rouge Saigon to El Salvador 1987 · Album · Viva La Sect Rouge · Big Home # BHP 994 · Australia
Annotation
Obscure Australian underground Garage Punk group from the 80s, based on the Sydney scene.1 This album contained the following credits: Chris Beaky (bass), Adam Spleen (drums), and Tont Shakin Bones (aka A.C. Pavey) (guitar, vocals). It contained the song "Saigon to El Salvador" (Big Home Productions # BHP 994) which opposed US interventions under Ronald Reagan, as indicated in the title of the song, a reference to US involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War.2 The narrator noted that "America's fighting another bloody war" .Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
BHP 994, made in Australia; hand-lettered red label and sleeve, "All songs L.S.R ©87", label code "MX300239". Tracklist: Everbody, Junk Baby, King Cane Toad, Saigon to El Salvador (track 4), Zombie Bar-B-Q, Prisoner, Bundle 'O' Joy, Mad Dog, Bin Thinkin, Dreams Turn to Dust, Death Row, God Bless America. Front cover "Viva La' Sect Rouge" with a high-contrast live photo of the band; back with a red-tinted band photo framed by drawn totem designs. [From the record sleeve and labels]Lyrics
English
From Saigon to El Salvador, America's fighting another bloody war
Some kind of witch-hunt to even some old score
I seen and heard your word before
The rivers runs red...
From Saigon to El Salvador...
This time be the last time
Seems I've heard those word before...
Round and round, around the world...
America fighting a bloody war
Themes: ANZUS Anti-Imperialism
Genres: ♪ Garage RockGarage Punk
1988
#73 Johnny & The Jumper Cables Landmine 1988 · Single · Death Squad of the Mind / Landmine · Stanton Park # STP-008 · USA
Notes
Stanton Park Records STP-008, Side B, 45 RPM, stereo, yellow label; "Landmine" (Highland/Black), 4:13, Johnny and the Jumper Cables, produced by Johnny and the Jumper Cables; © 1988 Route Nine Publishing, ℗ 1988 Stanton Park Records. [From the record sleeve and labels] Genre: ♪ Punk
#74 Walpurgis Volta Vietnam Blues 1988 · Album · Walpurgis Volta · La Rage # FRACTION 1 · Belgium
Annotation
Walpurgis Volta, Punk Rock / Psychobilly group formed in Bruxelles, Belgium, it members included: Bob Seytor (vocals), Eric Lemaître (guitar), Joe [Georges Lemaire] (bass), and Phil the Vibes [Phil Grouwels] (drums). They released the song "Vietnam Blues" (La Rage # FRACTION 1). Note: Lyrics needed.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#75 Demented Are Go Vietnam 1988 · Album · Kicked Out of Hell · ID # NOSE 21 · UK
Annotation
Demented Are Go! , a Psychobilly group, a cross between Punk Rock and Rockabilly, formed 1982, in Wales, UK, released the song "Vietnam" , with the opening line: "way down south in Vietnam" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ PunkPsychobilly
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#76 The Brains of Humans Vietnam 1988 · Album · Confrontation · Resistance # RIP 005 · Switzerland
Annotation
Hardcore Punk formed in Zürich, Switzerland. Its membership included: Chrigu (lead vocals), Snoopy (guitar, vocals), Kräche (bass, vocals), Pablo (drums, vocals), and Domi (bass). The song "Vietnam" (Resistance Productions # RIP 005) took an anti-war position, using Vietnam as its main reference point, displaying its important in culture. The lyrics contained Cold War imagery: "don't want no Third World War...corpses lying in the street" . It also referred to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan in World War Two: "no Hiroshima again" . Also of note was the use of Vietnam War film iconography: "Russian roulette is played for fun" . This is a reference to the famous scene in The Deer Hunter (1978), a key symbol of this 'message film', in which Russian roulette is used by Vietcong captors to torture American soldiers. Such torture has never been documented and this contributes to portraying the Vietnamese in a negative way. Students of the Vietnam War would argue that this is clearly not reality. Others may feel that The Deer Hunter is depicting an important message about American involvement in Vietnam – an American soldier puts a gun to his head, pulls the trigger, and kills himself.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
We don't want no Third World War
No Vietnam, no Hiroshima again
Corpses lying in the street
Blind and crying are the people around
Blood is running everywhere
Russian roulette is played for fun
Legs and arms without corpses
Dead, blind, blood
Such is stupid fucking war
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#77 Half Japanese Vietnam 1988 · Album · Charmed · 50 Skidillion Watts # WAT5 · USA
Annotation
Art Punk / Indie Rock group Half Japanese, from Coldwater, Michigan, USA, which formed in 1974, released the song "Vietnam" (Fifty Skidillion Watts Records # H J 5), in which a soldier was "headed out from Californ-I-A...over there to Vietnam" - the 1A of course being a play on the classification for those "eligible for military service", established in 1971 (under the Military Selective Service Act of 1967). Other common classifications were 1-AO (Conscientious Objector available for non-combatant military service), and 1-O (Conscientious Objector available for alternate community service).1 The song also referenced the North Vietnamese leader Hồ Chí Minh, and made reference to contemporary conflict in El Salvador. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
(Vietnam!) We're going over there to Vietnam
(Vietnam!) Gonna eat some Saigon
(Vietnam!) We'll shoot some pictures if the time is right
(Vietnam!) Gotta get down, get down in Vietnam tonight
(Ho Chi Minh!) Ho Chi Minh, he wants to be our friend
(Ho Chi Minh!) He'll beat a path to our doors, we'll just let him in
(Ho Chi Minh!) Revolution, it was tough in the South
(Ho Chi Minh!) Revolution, 'cause Ho Chi Minh must be your friend
(Vietnam!) Happiness is living in the USA
(Vietnam!) That kid is headed out to Californ-I-A
(Vietnam!) If you wonder what the fighting's for
(Vietnam!) Usually ? from El Salvador
(Vietnam!) Happiness is living in the USA
(Vietnam!) That kid is headed out to Californ-I-A
(Vietnam!) If you wonder what the fighting's for
(Vietnam!) Usually ? from El Salvador
Vietnam! Vietnam! Vietnam!...
Genres: ♪ RockAlternative Rock
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#78 Bérurier Noir Viet-Nam, Laos, Cambodge, Nhan quyen 1988 · Single · V.L.C Nhan quyen / Comme un bouddha · Bondage # BR 018 · France
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 1978 in Paris, France. They disbanded in May 2006. The song "Viet-Nam, Laos, Cambodge, Nhan quyen" (Bondage Records # BR 018), dealt with conflict in Cambodia, Laos, and of course Vietnam, looking at the perspective of refugees, asking what they could remember: "don't you remember anything, were are the bronze drums... elephants... where are the Pagodas" . The people were put into "education camps" , as "families fleeing war...castaways then refugees" , behind "barbed wire" . The narrator asked: "where is your freedom?" . The refugees are then in a "new country, new life... a tower of Chinatown" . The song called for resistance and human rights. Also note the reference to the use of napalm: "what is left of Vietnam after the tons of 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 1973.123Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Once upon a time there were Khmers
Massacred
Put in irons
Tell me, little Laotian
Don't you remember anything?
Where are the Bronze Drums
And the Million Elephants?
Behind the suicide of the Bonzes
Hides the cry of the children
Where have the Pagodas gone
The Dance Troupes of Cambodia?
The faces of the Temple of Angkor
Have survived Death
What is left of Vietnam
After the tons of napalm?
The re-education camps
Flight as the only solution
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Nhan Quyen oh Nhan Quyen
If the Mekong spoke to you
It would bear witness to horrors
To the corpses it has carried
To the Khmer Rouge and the mass graves
Tribes of Montagnards
Who resist in the black night
Families fleeing war
Exodus and Hell
Castaways, then refugees
Penned in behind barbed wire
Terrible ghettos of steel
Where is your freedom?
A young girl with almond eyes
Raped by Thai pirates
Tried to kill herself
She can no longer endure...
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Nhan Quyen oh Nhan Quyen
Oh little Vietnamese girl
Struggling in the streets
In life as in your dreams
You are looking for the lost Dragon
Oh little Vietnamese girl
I am Eurasian at heart
Listen to me because I love you
You will be my little sister
Exiled like your parents
New country, new life
But do you know that the West
Is not paradise?
Such roots and such culture
Deep is the rift
In a tower in Chinatown
Nobody understands your tears...
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Nhan Quyen oh Nhan Quyen
The Choir of Free Dragons
Laa ala ala laa ala
Thousands of Refugees
In the camps it is an Emergency
All these families to save
This is their last Chance
Oh Indochinese Youth
Raise the Flag of Hope
Of Laos and Cambodia
Of the Vietnam of Human Rights...
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia...Khang Chien (Resistance)
French
Il était une fois des Khmers
Massacres
Passes aux fers
Dis-moi petit Laotien
Ne te souviens-tu de rien
Ou sont les Tambours de Bronze
Et le Million d'llephants
Derrière le suicide des Bonzes
Se cache le cri des enfants
Ou sont. passées les Pagodes
Les Troupes de Danse du Cambodge
Les visages du Temple d'Angkor
Ont survecu a la Mort
Que reste-tii du Viétnam
Après les tonnes de napalm
Zes camps dreéducation
La Fuite comme seule solution
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodge
Nhan Quyen oh Nhan Quyen
Si le Mekong te parlait
Des horreurs il témoignerait
Des cadavres qu'il a charries
Des Khmers rouges et des charniers
Des Tribus de Montagnards
Qui résistent dans la nuit noire
Des familles fuyant la guerre
De l'exode et de l'Enfer
Naufragés puis refugiés
Parques dans les barbeles
Terribles ghettos d'acier
Ou se trouve ta liberté ?
Une jeune fille aux yeux d'amandes
Violée par les pirates thais
A tente D'se suicider
Elle ne veut plus endurer...
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodge
Nhan Quyen oh Nhan Quyen
Oh petite Viêtnamienne
Qui galere dans les rues
Dans la vie comme dans tes rêves
Tu cherches le Dragon perdu
Oh petite Viêtnamienne
Je suis eurasien de coeur
Ecoute-moi parce que Je t'aime
Tu seras mu petite soeur
Exilée comme tes parents
Nouveau pays nouvelle vie
Mais sais-tu que l'Occident
Ce n'est Pas le paradis ?
QueIIes racines et quelle culture
Profonde est la "déchirure"
Dans une tour de Chinatown
Personne ne comprend tes larmes...
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodge
Nhan Quyen oh Nhan Quyen
Le Choeur des Dragons Libres
Laa ala ala laa ala
Des milliers de Réfugiés
Dans les camps il y a Urgence
Toutes ces familles a sauver
C'est pour eux leur dernière Chance
Oh Jeunesse Indochinoise
Lève le Drapeau de l'Espoir
Du Laos et du Cambodge
Du Viécnam des Droits de l'Homme...
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodge...Khang Chien (Resistance)
Theme: Napalm
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#79 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 HomePunk 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 PTSD
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]
Also in: ▤ P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs▤ PTSD Songs
1989
#80 Crackousrockanroll Barrelhouse Cam in Vietnam 1989 · Single · Back Home / Barrelhouse Cam in Vietnam · BAR # 6 · UK
Annotation
Punk Rock band Crackousrockanroll, from Blackpool, Lancashire, UK, which featured in its line-up Gash Riprock (vocals), Jethro D. Bullsmore (guitar, fiddle), Vicious 'Ike' Pigswill (bass, guitar, fiddle), Quart Manly (drums), and Judge Swampsnake (guitar, fiddle). Its only released would seem to be this single, which included the song "Barrelhouse Cam in Vietnam" (BAR 6), which referenced Saigon, Laos, Mekong Delta, and 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
BAR 6, silver one-sided label marked "One Side", stereo, 45 RPM, ℗ + © 1989 Crackousrockanroll, made in France; "1. Back Home" (Martin/Coulter), EMI Music Publishing Ltd, and "2. Barrelhouse Cam in Vietnam" (K. Heaney), Bunko Squad Publishing; produced by Crackousrockanroll & Carl Stipetic.The front sleeve shows a black-and-white photograph of a football match goalmouth in front of a packed stand with Cinzano and Martini advertising.
The back has a band photograph by Shaun Offshotgun Kenny and lists the members as Gash Riprock (vocals), Jethro D. Bullsmore (guit fiddle), Vicious "Ike" Pigswill (bass guit fiddle), Quirt Manley (drums + boing) and Judge Swampsnake (guit fiddle); engineered by Carl Stipetic, recorded at In A City Studio, 152 Canal Road, Bradford, artwork and design by Georgio Maurauder, management Nobby Rocker.
A note by Paul Swinnerton of the HTB fanzine says this is the way "Back Home" should be performed, with the address Hit The Bar, c/o 10 Grafton Street, Blackpool; the sleeve also advertises the six-track cassette "Dig This Hullabaloo Cats" from 31 Torsway Avenue, Blackpool, and is marked "Bar Six" and "Non PPL". [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
...In old Saigon
Lets get some action with the Vietcong
The Mekong Delta to the borders of Laos
The sound of rumbling every damn house...
This little place is called Vietnam...
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#81 White Pigs A.P.O.W. 1989 · EP · Hit Bonanza · Super Seven # SS7 ep 226 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group White Pigs, which formed in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, in 1980. The song "A.P.O.W." (SS7 ep 226) - standing for American Prisoners of War, is a P.O.W. song. It started with a military cadence, "Johnny said he was your friend, now he's got your girlfriend in bed" , and then it moved straight into a high speed guitar rhythm, only broken toward the end of the song, to play a distorted version of the American anthem. The lyrics told of "Johnny going to Vietnam" , who is then captured by the Viet Cong. The final verse said that "another US soldier dead" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Superseven SS7 ep 226, "Hit Bonanza", 33 speed, red vinyl, Doug Moody Productions, P.O. Box 1596, San Marcos, CA 92069; all songs White Pigs, c/o Doug Moody Music/BMI, ©DM℗ 1989. This side: "Boss", "Victims", "Kill a Cop", "A.P.O.W."; other side: "Ghosts", "R.I.P.", "White Pigs Theme", "Proving Ground".The front sleeve is a stippled ink drawing of a snarling pig-faced punk with an inverted-cross earring and studded collar, skulls in its eyes.
The back sleeve gives the band's address as P.O. Box 18152, East Hartford, CT 06118, a group photograph, and credits: produced by Ted Rudzis & White Pigs; Brian Rip Throat (vocals), Rock God Earl E. Grave and Eddie Porter (bass), George Butterrick and Pete Clark (drums), Chuck Duncan and Steve Bertrand (guitars); layout by Phillip Raves; European contact Mystic/Semaphore, Schagen, the Netherlands. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Johnny said he was your friend
Now he's got your girlfriend in bed
Sound off, one, two
Sound off, three, four
They captured you
Johnny going to Vietnam....
Vietcong is running through and captured you
American Prisoner of War...
Another US soldier dead, dead, buried to the ground
American Prisoner of War
Theme: P.O.W.
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs
#82 Jello Biafra With D.O.A. Wish I Was Back in El Salvador 1989 · Album · Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors · Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS · USA
Annotation
Jello Biafra, from Colorado, US, known for his satirical, spoken-word and punk records throughout the 80s and 90s, including membership of the well-known Hardcore Punk group Dead Kennedys. He released two spoken-word tracks as a solo artist regarding the Vietnam War: "Vietnam Never Happened" (1987) and "Die for Oil, Sucker" (1991). He also released the song "Wish I Was Back in El Salvador" (1989) which referenced the Vietnam War, in collaboration with Hardcore Punk group D.O.A.. With the Dead Kennedys, he released the Vietnam-related songs "Holiday in Cambodia" (1980) and "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now" (1981). The Hardcore Punk song "Wish I Was Back in El Salvador" (Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 78), which dealt with police violence, referenced the Kent State killings. Jello Biafra wrote the song, and recorded and released it in collaboration with the Vancouver, Canadian punk group D.O.A. The narrator took the role of a former gang member, who later joined the marines. After being discharged, he "got an offer from the police" because he had the correct skills to become a member of the "government's official gang" . The police officer then encountered a demonstration and a hostile crowd. The police officer looked forward to the TV cameras moving away, when "we'll fire away" . He said that this would "make my day just like good ol' Kent State" . The song title referred to US involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War, under the Carter and Reagan administrations.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Used to be in a gang 'till I beat a kid half dead in a video arcade
Judge gave me a choice: jail or the marines, best time I ever had
Was being an MP, aw yeah, I wish I was down in El Salvador
Where I could jerk off with my gun and kill the poor
More gang busts after I'm discharged, got an offer from police
Surprise! We'll wipe your record clean if you'll become one of us
You've got just the skills we need for the government's official gang...
People are storming out into the streets, people are pouring out...
They hate me, they hate me, I just might have to defend myself
Now! It's party time...I look at you and smolder with my nightstick
And my shield, little kids throw rocks at me, their moms call me a pig
Commander says I gotta hold the line 'til the TV cameras leave
Then we'll fire away, make my day just like good ol' Kent State
Theme: Kent State
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Kent / Jackson State Songs
#83 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).Sources
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!
Genres: ♪ RockNoise Rock
#84 The Offspring Tehran 1989 · Album · The Offspring · Nemesis # Nem-006 · USA
Lyrics
English
In your plane the blue sky
You roam again
Words that echo in your mind
Make your heart beat faster
This is no Vietnam
We will win in Iran
The President said "Let it ride, ride"
Islam be damned
Make your last stand
In Tehran
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
1990
#85 Agent 86 Vietnam Generation 1990 · EP · New Wave # NW032 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk band, formed in 1982 in Arcata, California, USA. They are currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Members included Mike Briggs (vocals, guitar), Miss B. Haven (bass, vocals), and David Ziegler (drums, vocals). Kicking off the 1990s, they released the song "Vietnam Generation" (New Wave Records # NW032), an interesting representation of a protest by the generation that lived and grew up in the shadow of the Vietnam War: "just the pawns in a game...born in a troubled nation" . It reflects on the long-term impact of the war, and shows how it has became a benchmark in US society and culture. The song also referred to contemporary issues: "Nicaragua (South Africa)" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
New Wave Records NW 032, label marked "P.A.I.". The yellow picture sleeve shows a grainy photograph of a smiling fighter holding a rifle aloft, reproduced on the label.The back has a live photograph of the band with the track list: side 1 "NG3" and "Vietnam Generation", side 2 "South Africa" and "Stepping Stone". It prints the addresses A.P.M.C. B.P. N°6, 75462 Paris Cedex 10, France and Agent 86/Mike, P.O. Box 70354, Washington DC 20024, USA, together with a circle-A logo reading "Be strong and resist always" and a Gabelli Photogravure credit. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Vietnam generation, look at the mess you have made
You're just the pawns in a game the government got your name
Vietnam generation born in a troubled nation
But that was long ago, now it's Nicaragua (South Africa)
Body counts on the news, you don't have too much to lose
Except the ones of this nation, of the Viet generation
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#86 The Queers Rambo Rat 1990 · Album · Grow Up · Shakin' Street # YEAH-HUP 010 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 1982 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, founded by Joe King (vocals, guitar), Scott Gildersleeve (bass, drums, 1982-84), and Wimpy Rutherford (drums, vocals, 1982). The group has had a somewhat revolving line-up, aside from Joe King, the only constant member. Recorded between 1986–1988, this was their first album, having only released several EPs and singles in the early 80s. The song "Rambo Rat" (Shakin' Street Records # YEAH-HUP 10) is another track heavily influenced by Vietnam War films, like many punk post-war songs on this list, in this case, as suggested in the title, "Rambo" - a reference to First Blood (1982) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), films which concentrated on the US soldier as hero and the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russians as villains. This reflected the Reagan-era nationalism and the need to overcome the Vietnam Syndrome, seeking to reshape the image and memory of the Vietnam War. Ronald 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). This song told the story of a Vietnam veteran: "I wish I was back in Vietnam, killing all those gooks" - gooks was a racist term used by US GIs to refer to the Vietnamese.
The song also made a reference to the film Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by the political liberal and dove Francis Ford Coppola. In the film, Captain Kilgore (Robert Duvall) of the Air Cavalry attacks a Vietcong held village while playing Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" on the loud speakers of his helicopter. Once on the ground, Kilgore strips of his shirt and scarf and prepares to go surfing with explosions and gunshots all around. This is represented in this song with the line: "There's no surfing in Dorchester Bay" . Also of note in this song is the reference to the veteran's use of drugs: "getting all fucked up..., the cocaine, the heroin, the pills" . Canadian punk group The Jolts covered this song on the tribute album God Save the Queers (2008).
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I wish I was back in Vietnam
Killing all those gooks for Uncle Sam
Living in Boston just don't pay
There's no surfing in Dorchester Bay
Kill or be killed
It's dog eat dog
Kill or be killed
It's dog eat dog
My name, they call me Rambo Rat
My machine gun and me know where it's at
My name, they call me Rambo Rat
My name, they call me Rambo Rat
Rambo Rat, Rambo Rat, Rambo Rat, Rambo Rat
I think I took a bullet in the head
I used to have some friends, they called me Fred
Getting all fucked up...
The cocaine, the heroin, the pills
#87 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...
Also in: ▤ PTSD Songs
#88 Void Section Vietcong Cindy 1990 · Album · We've Had Enough · Tune # 860035 · Belgium
Annotation
Punk / Post-Punk / Hardcore song "Vietcong Cindy" (Tune Records # 860035), released in Antwerp, Belgium.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: VC
Also in: ▤ European Songs
1991
#89 Jello Biafra Die for Oil, Sucker 1991 · Single · Die for Oil, Sucker / Pledge of Allegiance · Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 90 · USA
Annotation
Jello Biafra, from Colorado, US, known for his satirical, spoken-word and punk records throughout the 80s and 90s, including membership of the well-known Hardcore Punk group Dead Kennedys. He released two spoken-word tracks as a solo artist regarding the Vietnam War: "Vietnam Never Happened" (1987) and "Die for Oil, Sucker" (1991). He also released the song "Wish I Was Back in El Salvador" (1989) which referenced the Vietnam War, in collaboration with Hardcore Punk group D.O.A.. With the Dead Kennedys, he released the Vietnam-related songs "Holiday in Cambodia" (1980) and "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now" (1981). On this single was the spoken-word track "Die for Oil, Sucker" (Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 90), about the First Gulf War, under President George H. W. Bush, which, as stated in the title, focused on the oil economy, politics, and war. The narrator argued that the country had forgotten the Vietnam War: "Vietnam just a time life book memory, the mask is off again" . The song also discussed the Vice-President, Dan Quayle, who had avoided the Vietnam War draft by joining the Indiana National Guard, which he served from 1969 to 1975, arguing that it was a form of draft inequality, not available to people from a socially-economically deprived background: "can't buy our way out like rich folks like Dan Quayle... burn you draft card" . Note that the song also referenced the Arab-Israeli conflict, and nuclear bombs.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
You are just about the ripe age to be drafted....
Die for oil, sucker...sucker...sucker
Born on the firecracker Fourth of July
Raised on football and MTV
Never felt what its like to have to fight to stay free
Vietnam just a time life book memory
The mask is off again this time nobody cares but you can't keep dancing if your legs are blown away....
You too can get your spinal cord snapped to save greedy kings from the greed of Iraq
Give your life for a country where women can't vote and people still get their hands and heads chopped off....
But they finally did outlaw slavery in 1962, so progress is being made
And they're sitting on something we can learn to live without but certain fat cat's bank accounts cannot, oil
For this you get to be all you can be, a dead army, navy, air force, marine...
Bush talks about bombing a path to Baghdad 75 miles wide
And if the big bad wolf still won't give up we're going to drop the nuclear bomb and after that we'll just waltz right in to colonize their hearts and minds....
What's so sick about this is that there's is a better way
Stop selling guns to Arabs and to Israel
Don't need to keep ourselves hostage to oil, use our star wars know how to build solar powered cars....
For those of us who can't buy our way out like rich folks like Dan Quayle...
Burn you draft card, burn the flag, and burn the Pentagon too
Genres: ♪ Spoken WordSpeech
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ Vietnam as Comparison
1992
#90 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...
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ PTSD Songs
1993
#91 Disfear Vietnam Idag 1993 · Album · A Brutal Sight of War · Lost and Found # LF 060 · Sweden
Annotation
Hardcore Punk band formed in 1989 in Nyköping, Sweden. Apart from the lead guitarist, Björn Pettersson, this group had a rotating line-up. They released the song "Vietnam Idag" (Lost and Found Records # LF 060/CD) which took an anti-war position, describing the war as a massacre: "the massacre in Vietnam '68 - '75" . The song focussed on the use of Agent Orange, the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. It is frequently referenced in post-war songs: "40,000 litres of dioxins...children born with cancer, deformed and sick" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
The country has not stopped bleeding since the war in '75
When 40,000 litres of dioxins were dumped over Vietnam
Where there was once a green, growing forest
Today it is sterile and barren
Evidence can be laid out and witnesses can tell
Of the massacre in Vietnam '68 - '75
Children born with cancer, deformed and sick
They were not in the war but are affected anyway
The children born are lame and blind
The genetic code has been put out of play
Swedish
Landet har inte slutat bloda sen kriget '75
Da 40,000 liter dioxiner vraktes over Vietnam
Dar det en gang var en gront vaxande skog
Ar det idag sterilt och ofruktbart
Bevis kan laggas from och vitten kan beratta
On massakern in Vietnam '68 - '75
Barn fods med cancer, deformerade och sjuka
Dom var inte med i kriget men drabbas anda
Barnen som fods ar lama och blinda
Den genetiska koden har satts ur spel
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#92 Citizen Fear We Need Another Vietnam 1993 · Bootleg / Unauthorized · Killed by Death #13 · Redrum # KBD 13 · USA
Annotation
Citizen Fear, Punk Rock group from California, USA, had the song "We Need Another Vietnam" (Redrum Records # KBD 13) on this various artist bootleg compilation - although released in the 90s, all tracks on this record were actually recorded between 1978 and 1983. The back of the LP said: Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
This volume of Killed By Death differs from the others in a few ways. It concentrates on just one region, California. And instead of containing previously released rare records, this one is culled from demo tapes, mostly from bands that never had any releases... Andy, Mike, Don, and Erik of Southern California's Citizen Fear never put out vinyl, but had such a distinctive early hardcore sound that it's definitely I'll loss. Whatever happened to them remains a mystery".
Theme: Vietnam Analogy
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#93 Screeching Weasel El Mozote 1993 · EP · El Mozote / Janelle · Lookout # Lookout 73 · USA
Notes
"El Mozote" . Hardcore punk. Reference to My Lai massacreLyrics
English
Somewhere in El Salvador
There's a grave for seven hundred
Pits full of guts
And kids who were tortured and hunted
By death squad soldiers
Who won't ever be purged or punished
Paid for by a government
That our tax dollars funded...
But that was so long ago
And our officials have retired
And once the stench is gone
It's easier to forgive the liars
There's so many atrocities
This nation's since acquired
And a Mỹ Lai doesn't mean much
With the papers stayin' quiet
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#94 Shock Treatment My Lai 1993 · Album · Media Distortion · A-Wat # 015 · UK
Notes
My Lai. Punk. Bristol, UKLyrics
English
Sent over to Vietnam to fight for Uncle Sam
Recruits looking for a thrill
Brainwashed daily to kill
My Lai Massacre
Those G.I.s went insane
Taking sick pleasure
Inflicting such pain
Ordered to kill Viet Cong
They knew the order were wrong
In Belson pits they were bound
Lined them up and shot them down
My Lai Massacre...
They tortured, raped, and killed
Taking sculps and souvenirs
Then their own men turned on them
And brought the slaughter to an end
My Lai Massacre...
Thirty years have come and gone
But the memory still lingers on
For the few who survived
That bloody brutal genocide
My Lai Massacre...
Genre: ♪ Punk
#95 横道坊主 [Odd-Bowz] Interlude: Vietnam 1993 · Album · 横道坊主 · Eastworld # TOCT-6993 · Japan
Credited on the record as 横道坊主.
Annotation
Punk band, formed on 1 April 1984 in Nagasaki, Japan. Featuring the songs "Interlude: Vietnam" and "Vietnam (Reprise)" (# TOCT-6993).Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Also in: ▤ Japanese Songs
#96 横道坊主 [Odd-Bowz] Vietnam (Reprise) 1993 · Album · 横道坊主 · Eastworld # TOCT-6993 · Japan
Credited on the record as 横道坊主.
Also in: ▤ Japanese Songs
1994
#97 Dog Faced Hermans Calley 1994 · Album · Those Deep Buds · Alternative Tentacles # VIRUS 151CD · UK
Annotation
Dog Faced Hermans formed in Edinburgh, UK, in 1986, and played Post-Punk / Art Punk, incorporating folk influences and experimental instrumentation. The band consisted of Marion Coutts (vocals, trumpet, bells, tuba), Colin McLean (bass, guitar, steel drum), Wilf Plum (drums, percussion, saxophone, bells, foghorn), and Andy Moor (guitar, viola, tube).1 In 1994 they released the album Those Deep Buds which included the startling song "Calley" (Konkurrel # K155c), that recalled the horror of the My Lai Massacre. The narrator imagined turning up at Calley's place of work, a jewelry store in Columbus, Georgia (which he did in fact work since 1975, called V.V. Vick). She wanted to question him on what happened: "oh Mr Calley...a moment of your time about My Lai" . At which point the music intensified and increased in volume, as the narrator then imagined herself running from the scene of the massacre: "choking on the smoke...I was running from the...heavy men behind me...in uniform with implements" . She described the killing as "easy work" and that the soldiers had "no need for caution, no opposition, no defending" .
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Also issued in the Netherlands on Konkurrel (K155c).Lyrics
English
In my dream I went into Columbus, Columbus, Georgia, through the rain
Seemed only like I knew where I was going, to a store, Bill Calley
Something, supplies, the name is hazy, inside the place was lit against the darkness
Dull, silver, sharp and shiny things like jewels or tools, I can't remember
I see my man, he stands behind the counter, his face set all uneven
Fairly fit still, the ex-marine, and now I'm here, I have my question ready...
'Oh Mr Calley, please, a moment of your time about My Lai'
Suddenly I couldn't see for running and I'm in a space that's screaming
And could say no more for choking on the smoke which came smoking
Which came pouring from the the clearing and I knew why I was running
From the cracking of the branches, from the heavy men behind me
Bulk and sweat in uniform with implements and running clumsy
Knowing that there was no need for caution, no opposition, no defending, easy work
And one I saw his face he'd turned towards me, his face set all uneven
Like a, like a young man who'd had a stroke at twenty-one
His face he turned towards me and he hisses
'Get out, get out, get out, this my place of business'
Themes: My Lai Anti-Calley
#98 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
Genres: ♪ MetalHardcore Punk
#99 Aus-Rotten Vietnam is Back 94 1994 · EP · Fuck Nazi Sympathy · Havoc # HC7003 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group formed in August 1991, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. They disbanded in 2001. Core members included Dave Trenga (vocals), Ajax (guitar), Eric Good (guitar), Corey Lyons (bass), with several different drummers. The song "Vietnam Is Back '94" (Havoc Records # HC7003), like many post-war tracks, used Vietnam as a benchmark to evaluate contemporary conflicts: "fighting another war at our cost...Vietnam is back" . The lyrics took an anti-war position: "don't support any fucking war" . No specific war is mentioned, and there were of course dozens of ongoing conflicts around the world, although this could be in reference to the high-profile US bombing of Bosnia in 1994, said to be for the prevention of "ethnic cleansing" perpetrated by Serbs in the region. The US also sent troops to join a NATO peacekeeping force. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Side A label, printed over a photograph of a shouting singer, carries typed strips reading "Tuesday, May 18th, 1993" and "Vietnam Is Back '94". [From the record sleeve and labels]Lyrics
English
They're fighting another war at our cost...
Bodies fill the bloody streets...
They want another war... Vietnam is back
Barricades and tear gas to keep us all in line...
They make themselves seem innocent...
They want another war...Vietnam is back
Stand up against the mass...
Don't support them anymore
Don't support any fucking war
They want another war...Vietnam is back
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#100 Pulmanx No Vietnam 1994 · EP · Niente da perdere · Scindesfaizz # 1 · Italy
Annotation
Oi! punk group from Italy, which released the song "No Vietnam" (01 / hcpx 02).Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Split-label 7" EP, 33 rpm: label "Lato B" Scindesfaizz #01, listing "Pesaro H.C.", "No Vietnam" and "No Politica".The sleeve, numbered hcpx02 with the dischi storti logo and the Scindesfaizz Autoproduzioni mark, reads "Pulmanx ...niente da perdere, 7" EP 1994", recorded and mixed at the Chain Studio, Pesaro, in July 1993 by P. Chain and Pulmanx; Lato Pulmanx: "Niente resterà impunito" 3:08, "Contro-il-potere (polizia-di-merda)" 2:10, "Io non so perquò sto quo" 0:50 (recorded live at CSA Manicomio PS 28/3/92); Lato Scindesfaizz: "Pesaro HC" 2:55, "No Vietnam" 1:55, "No politica" 1:25; Sgherri (voce e cori), Ricky (chitarra e cori), Pozzo (basso e cori), Fabio (batteria e cori).
The sleeve art is a grotesque drawing of a screaming suited man gagged with a chain, with speech bubbles "Questo disco è immor..." and "Apprezzo la tua fottuta critica... ora taci!!!". [From the record sleeve and labels]
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#101 The Mark of Cain Viet Vet 1994 · Single · Tell Me / Viet Vet · Insipid # IV-27 · 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 "Viet Vet" (Insipid Vinyl # IV-27), which was a cover of the Alan Vega song, discussed above. It dealt with the mistreatment of a Vietnam veteran: "he rides the subway, he's all alone" . His father and mother have died, his sweetheart had left him: "where are you ma...pa, they're gone, and his girl...Dear John" . The song noted that he had won the Purple Heart - medal awarded by the US president to those wounded or killed in action (K.I.A.). An estimated 351,794 were awarded during the Vietnam War. The group also released the song "Battlesick" , on the 1989 album Battlesick ( Dominator Records # DOMA 006), discussed above.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
B side, 33⅓ rpm 7" on grey marbled vinyl.Recorded August 1993 at Big Sound Studio, Adelaide, mixed by Darren McBain and David Lokan; ℗ 1993 The Mark of Cain, sleeve © 1994. Insipid Vinyl IV-27, 33⅓ rpm, red label marked "A (This Side)" and "B (Other Side)", ℗ & © 1993 The Mark of Cain; side A "Tell Me" (The Mark of Cain), 4:23; side B "Viet Vet" (Alan Vega), 7:53.
The front of the picture sleeve shows a pale, battered combat helmet against black under the band name in stencil lettering, with "Tell Me / Viet Vet".
The back credits words & music for each side, recording in August 1993 at Big Sound Studio Adelaide and mixing by Darren McBain and David Lokan, prints "© Control 1994" with the Insipid Vinyl logo, and gives management as In-Tense, PO Box 812, Newtown NSW 2042, Australia. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Glory, glory, hallelujah, glory, glory, hallelujah
Oh the truth comes marching in
He's a twisted flyer....he loves his country
It's the greatest, he's just another regular guy
Or he was, Viet vet...four purple hearts...
Forget it, he's looking for his home, forget it
Where are you ma, where are you pa, they're gone
And his girl, forget it, dear john to death
What you're gonna do, there ain't no jobs
You gotta bleed and stomp for an arm...
He rides the subway, he's all alone...
They're alone, forever, forever...
Also in: ▤ Australian & New Zealand Songs
1995
#102 The Oblivians Vietnam War Blues 1995 · Album · Soul Food · Crypt # CRYPT LP-055 · USA
Annotation
Garage Punk & Punk Blues, sub-genres of Punk Rock, this group formed in 1993 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, made-up of Greg Oblivian (guitar, drums, vocals), Eric Oblivian (guitar, drums, vocals), Jack Oblivian (guitar, drums, vocals). In 1995 the Oblivians covered the track "Viet Nam War Blues" (Crypt Records # CRYPT LP-055) by Lightnin' Hopkins, giving it a punk-rock makeover.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ Garage RockGarage Punk
Also in: ▤ Garage Rock Songs
#103 The Showcase Showdown Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh! 1995 · Single · Tario # U-41133M · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group, formed in 1993 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Disbanded 2000. Members included Victoria Arthur (bass), Tom Cloherty (guitar), Albert "Ping Pong" Genna (vocals), and Steve Maxwell "Chez Nips" (drums). The song "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh!" (Tario Records # U-41133M) took a novelty approach, declaring that "we don’t need your Santa Claus, cause we’ve got Uncle Ho" . It also suggested that the toys would be delivered via tunnel, presumably a reference to the Ho Chi Minh Trail: "Uncle Ho tunnels, when he brings your toys" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Tario Records, 45 RPM, red vinyl with a green-and-white label; no catalogue number printed on label or sleeve.The front sleeve shows Ho Chi Minh in a Santa hat against strings of Christmas decorations, with the title in red cut-out letters.
The back prints the full lyrics ("We don't need your Santa Claus / Cause we've got Uncle Ho"), credits Ping Pong (vocals, bells) and Victoria (bass), states "Recorded by Bill T. Miller at Straightjacket Sound, Allston, MA, August 6, 1995" and "All songs © the Showcase Showdown, 1995", gives the band address 23 Pomeroy Street, Allston, MA, and reproduces an AP clipping, "Brief abduction, long sentence", about a Houston man who forced two women on a tour of Christmas lights. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
We don’t need your Santa Claus
Cause we’ve got Uncle Ho
No three wise bourgeois gentlemen
Or sleigh bells in the snow
Santa may wear red, but don’t believe what you see
Cause Uncle Ho distributes presents equally
Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh
He comes down from the North
Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh
All the presents he brings forth
Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh
He’s a jolly man they say
Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh
Smash the state on Christmas day
That fat man he don’t understand
How his elves work
His laissez faire philosophies
Leave his workers short
Uncle Ho tunnels, when he brings your toys
And he lives with his workers in Hanoi oi! oi!
Also in: ▤ Christmas Songs
#104 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
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ PTSD Songs
#105 Jara My Own Private Lieutenant Calley 1995 · EP · Still Life / Jara · The Sunflower Tribe # sfl001 · USA
Notes
Split 12" (four tracks per band); this is B2. Recorded at Sleepless Nights (Madison, WI) and The Living Room (Goleta, CA). Theme: My Lai
Also in: ▤ My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs
1997
#106 The Mullens Girl From Vietnam 1997 · EP · Step on the Gas · 1+2 · USA
Annotation
The Mullens, a Garage Punk group from Dallas, Texas, USA. Its membership included: Matt Mayo (guitar, vocals), Tim Stile (vocals, harmonica), Rod Baird (drums), Lee Lazarine (guitar, backing vocals), Bill Whetsel (bass), and Dana Williams (bass). The song "Girl From Vietnam" (1+2 Records # 1+2 EP 107) was about a US soldier who had a relationship with a Vietnamese woman: "it was a romance in the sticks.. it was the summer of '66" . It ended with the soldier being killed in action (K.I.A.): "he took a bullet, and she took a piece of his heart" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
She was a girl from Vietnam
And he was a boy from Birmingham
It was a romance in the sticks
And it was 1966
When the whole thing began
When the boy met the girl from Vietnam
It was a girlfriend, in the sticks
It was 1966
It was the summer of '66...
But she was a girl from Vietnam
And he was a boy from Birmingham
And he took a bullet
And she took a piece of his heart
It was the summer of '66...
Genres: ♪ PunkGarage Punk
#107 Heideroosjes Our Own Vietnam 1997 · Album · Kung-Fu · Fairytale # FT0497 · Netherlands
Annotation
Dutch Punk Rock group, formed in 1989, in Horst, Limburg, Netherlands. Disbanded 29 September 2012. Members included: Frank Kleuskens (guitar), Fred Houben (bass), Igor Hobus (drums), and Marco Roelofs (vocals). The song "Our Own Vietnam" (Fairytale Records # FT0497) was another post-war song that used the Vietnam War as a benchmark, to compare to contemporary conflicts, in this case the Former Yugoslavia. It noted that the Yugoslavian conflict was a "story of hate, aggression, rape, and fear" . It said that the United Nations failed to solve that problem, and that while the USA "kept their hands dry" , because they had "learned their lesson back in the sixties" , Europe now had its "own Vietnam", a somewhat distorted portrayal of American interventionism in the post-Vietnam era. In fact, the US played a role in the Former Yugoslavia, not to mention other conflicts throughout the world. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
If the trees in former Yugoslavia could talk
They could tell you a little story
A story you don't wanna hear
A story of hate, aggression, rape and fear
The almighty United Nations sent out troops to
Control the situation
But while showing the world their superiority
They got fooled and became
Part of the genocide of a nation
And now they find the bodies of ten thousand slaughtered men
We have our own Vietnam!
The United F**kin States of America kept their hands dry
They learned their lesson back in the sixties
But United Naive bastards thought they could trust the enemy
They thought they could trust the enemy...
We have our own Vietnam!
All this time during that war they told us, lies, lies, lies, lies
Told the women 'yes, your husband will return' lies, lies, lies, lies
And now they can no longer say 'we did what we could' lies, lies, lies, lies
All this time during that war they told us, lies, lies, lies, lies
1998
#108 The Caravans Vietnam Blues 1998 · Album · Glamorous Heart Motel Blues · Fury [UK] # F3042 · UK
Annotation
The Caravans, a Psychobilly group - a cross-pollination of Punk Rock and Rockabilly - formed in 1983 in Southsea, UK, led by Mark Pennington, released the song "Vietnam Blues" (Fury Records # F3042), a cover an obscure Atlanta, Georgia country artist Elvis Carden, who released the single Viet Nam Blues / Loving a Soldier in 1967. It told the story of a soldier who is in a "fight in Vietnam, 23 hours a day" , fighting off 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. The soldier "got a woman stateside...down in Western Georgia" . However, at the end of the song, the narrator reports that his sweetheart had left him: "my baby went and left me, cause she loves cocaine" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Well I fight in Vietnam
23 hours a day
What these Congs will do, I'm too scared to say
I've got the blues baby
Vietnam blues
Well, I've got a woman stateside
She is so far from you
I've got the Vietnam blues
Eating army rations...
Vietnam blues
I've got a pretty woman
I'll die from these Vietnam blues
Down in Western Georgia... well I met a pretty woman
She was so sweet
I got the Vietnam blues...
Working in the army
Sixteen hours a day
Well my baby went and left me
Cause she loves cocaine
I got the Vietnam blues...
Theme: VC
Genre: ♪ Rock
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#109 At the Drive-In Alpha Centauri 1998 · Album · In/Casino/Out · Fearless # F034 · USA
Annotation
US Post-Hardcore punk band At the Drive-In opened their 1998 album with the blazing track "Alpha Centauri" (Fearless Records # F034). Founded in 1993, in El Paso, Texas, the band's lyrics were often obscure and difficult to interpret. It did contain several lines of violent imagery, including a possible reference to Kent State: "students spray the Kent State mist" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Widows, an antique replacement
A briefcase filled with mace
Widows, six legged lost and found
Students, spray the Kent State mace
Wishing wells, missing clientele
Widows, six legged lost and found
Parkas worn in summer apparel
Sweat lodge comatose of broken arrows
Widows, veiled in rebound sheets
This is the ghost of a chance the lonely
Widows, six legged lost and found
Precision, watch the scalpel make roads
Hear them talk in paranoid parables
Widows, six legged lost and found
Storefront chairman's fingering buttons
This running of the bulls
Will take over the life support system
Madrid space station Spain, in space, in space
Flesh versus machine
Matador is just a bull in a china shop...
Theme: Kent State
Also in: ▤ Kent / Jackson State Songs
1999
#110 Biohazard New World Disorder 1999 · Album · King Recordings # 314 546 032-2 · USA
Annotation
Biohazard, a New York Hardcore band (a sub-genre of Hardcore Punk), which incorporated elements of metal, 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). Note that this group released the song "Remember" on the album State of the World Address (1994).On this album featured the song "New World Disorder" (King Recordings # 314 546 032-2), which made a reference to the film Apocalypse Now (1979), directed by the political liberal and dove Francis Ford Coppola. Captain Kilgore (Robert Duvall) of the Air Cavalry attacks a Vietcong held village while playing Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" on the loud speakers of his helicopter. Once on the ground, Kilgore strips of his shirt and scarf and prepares to go surfing with explosions and gunshots all around. As fighter jets bomb the forest behind the Vietcong village, Kilgore says happily "I love the smell of napalm in the morning….smells like victory".
NotesDozens of songs are influenced by Apocalypse Now either in title or lyrics, especially the quote "smell of napalm in the moring". Here are a select few:
- "Charlie Don't Surf" by The Clash on Sandinista! (1980)
- "Napalm Beach" by The Five on Napalm Beach / Excite Me (1981)
- "Beach Party Vietnam" by The Dead Milkmen on Eat Your Paisley! (1986)
- "Rambo Rat" by The Queers on Grow Up (1990)
- "The War in Vietnam" by New Scene on Technomakinita 2 (1991)
- "Back to Nam EP" by Commando Alan Jamming Nam (1994)
- "Wa Wa Zat!!" by David Lee Roth on DLR Band (1998)
- "Vietnam" by Big Red on Big Redemption (1999)
- "New World Disorder" by Biohazard on New World Disorder (1999)
- "Napalm in the Morning" by Sodom on M-16 (2001)
- "Hysteria" by Knives Out! on Black Mass Hysteria (2012)
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Armageddon, a new death is dawnin'
I like the smell of napalm in the morning
Four riders of the apocalypse descend from the north
A fear in my eye, I behold a pale horse
Themes: Apocalypse Now Napalm
Also in: ▤ Metal Songs
#111 Kriminella Gitarrer Vietnam 1999 · Bootleg / Unauthorized · Complete Studio Recordings + Demos · Klippan # KRX 04351 · Sweden
Annotation
Punk Rock group Kriminella Gitarrer, formed in 1977 in Klippan, Sweden, and disbanded in 1979. The lead singer Stry Terrarie was also in the Swedish punk group Stry & Stripparna, which released the song "Vietnam" in 1979 on the EP Sjunger Malmö City, discussed above. On this compilation featured the song "Vietnam" (KRX 04531), recorded in 1978, but not released at the time.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#112 Various Artists We Will Not Obey 1999 · Compilation
Notes
- Massacre at My Lai in a Classroom (JxTx) (aka Jorge Anthony Tapia)- Free The P.O.W.'s (Anarcho-Acoustico)
- Acoustic punk
#113 Anarcho-Acoustico Free The P.O.W.'s 1999 · Compilation · We Will Not Obey · Achieve # ACH002 · USA
Theme: P.O.W.
Genre: ♪ Punk
Also in: ▤ P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs
#114 JxTx Massacre at My Lai in a Classroom 1999 · Compilation · We Will Not Obey · Achieve # ACH002 · USA
Genre: ♪ Punk
2000s
2000
#115 The Hard Feelings (We Need Another) Vietnam 2000 · Album · Fought Back and Lost · Sympathy for the Record Industry # SFTRI 604 · USA
Annotation
The Hard Feelings, Garage Punk group formed in Austin, Texas, USA, led by John Schooley, released the song "(We Need Another) Vietnam" (Sympathy for the Record Industry # SFTRI 604), recorded at Sweatbox Studios, Austin TX 15-17 January 2000, criticised its current generation: "I think my generation stinks, all the kids without a clue" . And thus they called for "another Vietnam...let's drop some napalm" - a reference to 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 1973.123Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
I think my generation stinks...
All the kids without a clue
It's time we had something to do
Let's go
We need another Vietnam
Let's drop some napalm cluster bomb
All the kids without a clue
It's time to go...let's go
War was good, if I tell the truth
Ain't good for nothing and neither are you
In '69 you might have laughed
But this time no one beats my draft
Let's go
Genres: ♪ PunkGarage Punk
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs▤ Vietnam as Comparison
2001
#116 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: ▤ PTSD Songs
#117 Duane Peters and the Hunns In Vietnam 2001 · Album · Tickets to Heaven · Disaster # 9005 · USA
Annotation
Duane Peters - well-known Punk Rock artist from the group U.S. Bombs, based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The song "In Vietnam" (Disaster Records # Disaster 9005) looked at a disabled Vietnam veteran: "36 years in a wheelchair, lost his leg in Da Nang" , who was mistreated on his return to the US: "mud thrown on his face" - this can be considered a reference to the famous "spitting image", although no actual incidents have been documented, and this is considered to be a myth.12 The song also continued the post-war trend of referencing Agent Orange: "Agent Orange is killing you" - the defoliant / herbicide used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, which had long term negative health effects on the Vietnamese and US soldier whom came into contact with the chemical. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
He going to live 36 years in a wheelchair
Lost his leg in Da Nang
The Agent Orange is killing you
With the patriotic guts to serve...
His twin brother... seventeen, buried in a land...
In Vietnam
In Vietnam
In Vietnam
In Vietnam
Welcome home for Hank
The anti-war movement was slain
Moved from place to place
...Mud thrown on his face...
Look what the US gave him
Didn't ask why... he's got to go off to war
In Vietnam...
He's looking over the city...
Lottery draft...
In Vietnan....
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs
#118 The Blockheads Vietnam 2001 · Album · Braindead · Not On Label · USA
Notes
Obscure Punk Rock group formed in Encinitas, California, USA, featuring Jeff (vocals, guitar), Mike (vocals, bass), and Kyle (drums), only released one album, which contained the song "Vietnam" which looked at the perspective of a Vietnam War veteran.Lyrics
English
Try not to remember that... shoot to kill in Vietnam...
Looks like so much fun...
The rolling jungle...
Be around when I come back from Vietnam...
Genre: ♪ Rock
#119 The Nads Saigon Hooker 2001 · Single · Gearhead # RPM 026 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group, they released the song "Saigon Hooker" (Gearhead Records # RPM 026), out of San Francisco, California, USA, on a limited edition run of 1000 copies in lavender colour. Potentially about prostitutes during the Vietnam War.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Gearhead Records, P.O. Box 421219, San Francisco, CA 94142, RPM026, 45 RPM, lavender vinyl, "© & ℗ 2001 Gearhead Records"; the Side A label shows a photo of a woman outside a "Massage" parlour.The front sleeve is a drawing of a woman in underwear and boots signed C. Martin; the back, with a photo of an "Erotic Lingerie Modeling" neon sign, lists Side A "Saigon Hooker" and Side B "New Set of Nuts" and "Sons of the Sonic Solution".
Credits: Danny Nad (vocals/guitar), Pete Holmes (bass), Dr. Dave Clark (drums), Chase Marshall (guitar); "©2001 Peachfuzz ℗2001 Nadsmusic International", recorded in San Francisco at High Risk Recording, engineered by Don Kahler, produced by the Nads, cover art by C. Martin, photos by Jamin Barton, layout by Jeremy Stoner. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Themes: Prostitution Saigon
#120 Tranquilizer Vietnam 2001 · Bootleg / Unauthorized · Tranquilizar History Demos Flexis Live 1985-1987 · Hirokatsu Kinoshita Fanclub · Japan
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Japanese Songs
2002
#121 Lords of Light Vietnam 2002 · Album · Lords of Light · Rock & Roleplay # RNRPR011 · USA
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ PunkThrashcore
2003
#122 El Falo de Vigo Cuentame Mentiras Del Vietnam 2003 · Album · ¿Dónde está mi sexo? · El Señor Guindilla # GUI 089/CD · Spain
Notes
Cuentame mentiras del VietnamSpanish.
Notes
CD / CD-ROM. Punk. Title translates as 'Tell Me Lies About Vietnam'; from the 2003 CD ¿Dónde está mi sexo? Also in: ▤ European Songs
#123 Running On Fumes Vietnam Vacation 2003 · Album · Running On Fumes · Fallen Angel # FA2001-02 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 2001 in Long Beach, California, USA. Its membership included: Celso (lead guitar, vocals), Seth (guitar, vocals), Tim (bass, vocals), and Keith (drums, percussion). The song "Vietnam Vacation" (FA2001), featuring the sound-effects of war mid-way through the song, tells the story of a soldier "sent to Vietnam" at "the age of 21, left in the jungle" . He does "five fucking tours" . Then into the present tense, the veteran is "sitting in the park" , telling the narrator "all the horrors" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Okay let's go
They sent him overseas at the age of 21
Left in the jungle... and his gun
Was taken from his home, was taken from his land
Got to have a tool for this government's plan
Sent to Vietnam
Five fucking tours
He sits alone in anguish and tells me all the horrors
Living in a foxhole...
Mangled bodies looking up at him... He doesn't give a shit, loves another round...
But now its '97, and sitting in the park
And the tears on his wrinkled face
He tells me all the horrors
2004
#124 The Clap Hanoi Jane 2004 · Album · If Looks Could Kill · Strain # 3 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 1978 in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, USA, featuring Johnny Loftus (bass), Art Zawodny (guitar), and Mike DiPollo (drums). They released the song "Hanoi Jane" (Strain 003), the title of which referenced Jane Fonda, a famous actress and political activist who visited North Vietnam in 1972, and met with American P.O.W.s. She released a documentary in 1974 with her husband Tom Hayden, called Introduction to the Enemy, which depicted their travels through North and South Vietnam. Hayden, a political activist, one of the founding members Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), played a major role in the protests outside of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. He and several others were arrested for inciting riots, and they became known as the "Chicago Seven". See the list: While in Vietnam Fonda posed in a photograph with North Vietnamese soldiers and an anti-aircraft cannon. She urged US soldiers to stop bombing North Vietnam and accused them of being war criminals. As mentioned above, she visited a select group American P.O.W.s, while also delivering 200 letters from P.O.W. families. These P.O.W.s apparently 'volunteered' to meet Fonda for a photo shoot, and many had turned against the war. When the P.O.W.s returned to the US in 1973, the government paraded a selected group of hardliners who supported the president and the war. Those that had met with Fonda were accused of being traitors and threatened with court-martial. One of them, David Wesley Hoffman, claimed that he had been "hung from a hook by his broken arm until he agreed to meet" with Fonda. On 31 March 1973, the Associate Press quoted Fonda as saying that "POWs who reported that they were tortured are hypocrites and liars". Because of these activities, Fonda became known as "Hanoi Jane" .123 This theme featured in other songs, such as "Hanoi Jane" by Leon Rausch - see the list
The narrator of the song criticised Fonda in grotesque and over-the-top language, saying that she was a traitor, who "fucked all the commie bastards in Vietnam" . It threw various names around, such as "fucked-up bitch" and "worthless tramp" . The song also used the term "gook" , a derogatory term for Asians by soldiers, it became widely used during the Vietnam conflict: "you fucking all the gooks in Vietnam" . Also of note was the first two lines of the song, which recalled that the Vietnam veterans were not welcomed home like previous generations of soldiers, such as after World War Two, which is a frequent theme in post-Vietnam War songs: "When Johnny comes marching home again, there'll be no ticket tape parade" . The use of "Johnny comes marching home" is of course a reference to the famous title of a song from the American Civil War.
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
When Johnny comes marching home again
There'll be no ticket tape parade for him
For Hanoi Jane, you fucked our vets, stupid little fucked-up bitch
Sitting in a bar room thinking of you
Have a couple more, yeah drank a few...
Hanoi Jane I gonna piss on you
Gonna piss on you, Hanoi Jane, gonna piss on you
You really didn't know what was your plan when you took the other side down in Vietnam
Gonna piss on you, don't give a damn
Hanoi Jane you're just a worthless tramp...
The picture in the urinal, I'll be pissing on it all night long
Because you fucked all the commie bastards in Vietnam
And all the time, which said are you really on
You fucking all the gooks in Vietnam
Now you're gonna wish you were Goldie Horn...
Start pissing...
Themes: Jane Fonda Mistreatment of Vet
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#125 Nothing Personal Hanoi Jane 2004 · Album · Guns, Guts and Glory · NGS · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group from the US, which released the song "Hanoi Jane" (NGS Records), out of Westmont, Illinois, USA, in which the narrator claimed that the group were "the last true patriots" , who would not forget that "Jane Fonda sold out America" . This, as above, was a reference to Jane Fonda, a famous actress and political activist who visited North Vietnam in 1972, and met with American P.O.W.s. She released a documentary in 1974 with her husband Tom Hayden, called Introduction to the Enemy, which depicted their travels through North and South Vietnam. Hayden, a political activist, one of the founding members Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), played a major role in the protests outside of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. He and several others were arrested for inciting riots, and they became known as the "Chicago Seven". See the list: .
While in Vietnam Fonda posed in a photograph with North Vietnamese soldiers and an anti-aircraft cannon. She urged US soldiers to stop bombing North Vietnam and accused them of being war criminals. As mentioned above, she visited a select group American P.O.W.s, while also delivering 200 letters from P.O.W. families. These P.O.W.s apparently 'volunteered' to meet Fonda for a photo shoot, and many had turned against the war. When the P.O.W.s returned to the US in 1973, the government paraded a selected group of hardliners who supported the president and the war. Those that had met with Fonda were accused of being traitors and threatened with court-martial. One of them, David Wesley Hoffman, claimed that he had been "hung from a hook by his broken arm until he agreed to meet" with Fonda. On 31 March 1973, the Associate Press quoted Fonda as saying that "POWs who reported that they were tortured are hypocrites and liars". Because of these activities, Fonda became known as "Hanoi Jane" .123 This theme featured in other songs, such as "Hanoi Jane" by Leon Rausch - see the list .
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
...You're a disgrace
Don't try to apologies
It's too late
1972, we were down in 'Nam
Where were you... It's up to us, the last true patriots, to never forget how Jane Fonda sold out America
Start doing your exercise videos in Vietnamese bitch
We will never forget...
Never
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#126 MDC Founding Fathers - Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? 2004 · Album · Magnus Dominus Corpus · Yellow Dog # YD 043 · USA
Annotation
Pioneering Hardcore Punk band formed in December 1979 in Austin, Texas, USA, and currently based in Portland, Oregan, USA, led by guitarist and vocalist Dave Dictor. The group was known for its political lyrics and anti- Ronald Reagan material in the 1980s. This 2004 album (Sudden Death Records # SDR-0058)mainly focused on protest against the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and opposition to President George W. Bush. It contained a couple songs which referenced the Vietnam War. This included the song "Founding Fathers - Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?" , in which they discussed hypocrisy in US foreign policy, including "John Wayne running up the hill, see how many Vietnamese he could kill" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Also issued in Canada on Sudden Death Records (SDR-0058).Lyrics
English
Are the founding fathers terrorists or freedom fighters?
And Paul Revere the famous night rider
And Andrew Jackson the Indian killer
A movie of his life could be a nightmare thriller
Hand out blankets with disease
Our God is so much better we believe
Genocidal times, get on your knees
We are the good guys or so we perceive
So back then they rebelled against the king
The U.S. in Iraq is really the same thing
All the radio hate disc jockey's rage
Screaming we should blast them back to the Stone Age
Just like John Wayne running up the hill
See how many Vietnamese he could kill
Destroy the village to save it is part of the plan
Just as letting African's die of AIDS is to steal their land
"Mommy, was George Washington a terrorist?"
"No honey, he was a great man, the first president and an important slave owner."
"Mommy what are doing in Iraq?" "Honey we are gonna' teach these people how to be free."
We prop up the Saudi's corrupt regime
Denied people's rights and justice so it seems
All done for convenience and all that black gold
Send our boys off to protect our freedoms or so they're told
"Didn't they lynch black folks in the South
And set them on fire and hang them from trees just like they did those men in Iraq?"
"Oh honey, that was so long ago. We don't think about things like that."
All this hypocrisy makes us sick as hell
Our murderous government think they're so swell
Capture people deny them their rights
Abuse them from Guantanamo to the Golan Heights
Are the founding fathers terrorists or freedom fighters?
Take land from the Indians in trade for a little cider
Remember the only good Indian is one that is dead
How would it feel for it to be us instead?
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs
#127 MDC Ballad of G.W. 2004 · Album · Magnus Dominus Corpus · Yellow Dog # YD 043 · USA
Annotation
Then in the song "Ballad of G.W." about George W. Bush, MDC criticised Bush for avoiding service in Vietnam: saying that "there's a war in Vietnam" , but "George stay at home with mom" , while they "buy...a spot in the Texas National Guard" , meanwhile the "common people get maimed and scarred" . This is interesting contemporary, post-war take on draft inequality, which had a similar theme to the well-known 1969 protest song "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, about the grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, David Eisenhower, (married to the daughter Richard Nixon), avoiding the Vietnam War draft by getting into the reserves. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Also issued in Canada on Sudden Death Records (SDR-0058).Lyrics
English
Come and listen to my story 'bout a boy named Bush
His IQ was zero and his head was up his tush
He drank like a fish while he drove a car about
But that didn't matter 'cuz his daddy bailed him out
DUI, that is. Criminal record. Cover-up
Well, the first thing you know little Georgie goes to Yale
He can't spell his name but they never let him fail
He spends all his time hangin' out with student folk
And that's when he learns how to snort a line of coke
Blow, that is. White gold. Nose candy
The next thing you know there's a war in Vietnam
Kin folks say, "George, stay at home with Mom."
Let the common people get maimed and scarred
We'll buy you up a spot in the Texas National Guard
Cush, that is. Country clubs. Nose candy
Twenty years later George gets a little bored
He trades in the booze, says that Jesus is his Lord
He said, "Now the White House is the place I wanna' be
" So he called his daddy's friends and they called the GOP
Gun owners, that is. Falwell. Jesse Helms
Come November 7, the election ran late
Kin folks said "Jeb, give the boy your state!"
"Don't let those colored folks get anywhere near polls."
So they put up barricades so they couldn't punch their holes
Chads, that is. Duval County. Miami-Dade
Before the votes were counted all the five Supremes stepped in
Told all the voters "Hey, we want our George to win."
"Stop counting votes!" was their solemn invocation
And that's how little Georgie finally got his coronation
Rigged, that is. Illegitimate. No moral authority. Y'all come vote now. Ya hear?
Are the founding fathers terrorists or freedom fighters?
And Paul Revere the famous night rider
And Andrew Jackson the Indian killer
A movie of his life could be a nightmare thriller
Hand out blankets with disease
Our God is so much better we believe
Genocidal times, get on your knees
We are the good guys or so we perceive
So back then they rebelled against the king
The U.S. in Iraq is really the same thing
All the radio hate disc jockey's rage
Screaming we should blast them back to the Stone Age
Just like John Wayne running up the hill
See how many Vietnamese he could kill
Destroy the village to save it is part of the plan
Just as letting African's die of AIDS is to steal their land
"Mommy, was George Washington a terrorist?"
"No honey, he was a great man, the first president and an important slave owner."
"Mommy what are doing in Iraq?" "Honey we are gonna' teach these people how to be free."
We prop up the Saudi's corrupt regime
Denied people's rights and justice so it seems
All done for convenience and all that black gold
Send our boys off to protect our freedoms or so they're told
"Didn't they lynch black folks in the South
And set them on fire and hang them from trees just like they did those men in Iraq?"
"Oh honey, that was so long ago. We don't think about things like that."
All this hypocrisy makes us sick as hell
Our murderous government think they're so swell
Capture people deny them their rights
Abuse them from Guantanamo to the Golan Heights
Are the founding fathers terrorists or freedom fighters?
Take land from the Indians in trade for a little cider
Remember the only good Indian is one that is dead
How would it feel for it to be us instead?
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Draft Songs
#128 Clorox Girls Vietnam 2004 · Album · Clorox Girls · SmartGuy # smart 015 · USA
Notes
Punk Rock group formed in Portland, Oregon, included the members: Justin Maurer (vocals, guitar), Clay Silva (drums, tambourine), Colin Grigson (bass), Zack Lewis (bass), Richie Cardenas (drums, 2006-present), and Daniel Sayer (bass, 2006-present). They released the song "Vietnam" ( SmartGuy Records # smart 015), which included general war lyrics: "it's the time for Vietnam...and we're waiting for the bomb" .Lyrics
English
It's the time for roaming
In a time of peace & war
It's the time for honing
Our armies' sharpened steel
It's the time for Vietnam
It's the time for me and you
And we're waiting for the bomb
It's the time for sirens
Hear their mating call
We become pregnant
As daisy cutters fall
Theme: Themes Pending
2005
#129 Cranked Up! Another Vietnam 2005 · Album · This Is a Weapon · Blackout! # 73 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, led by Pat Society on vocals. This album included the song "Another Vietnam" (Blackout! Records # 73), like many songs on this list, used the conflict as a point of comparison, to protest contemporary events. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Western monopoly, what's a few hundred dead...
The innocent die
Vietnam...
Economic stranglehold...
It was all a bunch of lies...
See the connection
Is the country I live?...
Shallow grave...
Another Vietnam
Another Vietnam...
Theme: Vietnam Analogy
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
2006
#130 Dance Gavin Dance The Robot vs. Heroin Battle of Vietnam 2006 · EP · Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean · Rise # RISE044 · USA
Annotation
Dance Gavin Dance, a Post-Hardcore group formed in 2005 in Sacramento, California, USA. The song "The Robot vs. Heroin Battle of Vietnam" (Rise Records # RISE044), as suggested from the title, may be a reference to the use of drugs, specifically heroin, in the Vietnam War, although the lyrics are not clear-cut. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Parts of victims organs
They will give you better style
Attach the plate mail to your insides
Blistered by the fire
(Keep your victims confined)
Caught in the threshold
(To meager rations)
Man the armory
(Rations)
Dressed in our
(Those in your basement)
Last attire castle walls
(Keep them confined to meager rations)
Falling down around us all
(To meager rations)
And then when you go to sleep
(I stashed the plate mail under the file cabinet)
I hope you wake up knowing
I stashed the plate mail under the file cabinet...
That you were meant for all of this...
First, take time to breathe, you don't need me
(We can't go wrong)
You don't need anything
It's a wonder
(Just hand me the best tongs)
(We can't go wrong)
How we're all under attack from everything always
(We can't go wrong now)
And I'm willing to die to save your life...
#131 Golliwog Heaven, Purgatory, Vietnam 2006 · Album · More Than Meets D.I.Y. · Chainsaw # KUDG CD 001 · Slovenia
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 1998 in Ribnica, Slovenia. Its membership featured Saša Hrovatin (vocals, guitar, trumpet), Vid Trdan (guitar, backing vocals), Matej Oven (bass, backing vocals), and Jure Pucelj (drums). This album contained the song "Heaven / Purgatory / Vietnam" (Chainsaw # KUDG CD 001) which took an anti-war war, anti-US position, looking back at "Vietnam 1974" , where the US government sought to implement "the American way" . Its main focus was on criticising the US President Richard Nixon: "what has Nixon done...58,000 Santa-soldiers gone" . It also referenced the Watergate scandal, suggesting that it was of little significance compared to the war: "what was so called Watergate affair? I don’t know and I don’t care" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
You built it up then you tear it down
Burn it down to the ground!
It’s Vietnam 1974
Hold your breath you better lock your door
Join the army see the world they say
You better do it the American way
The enemy is near so watch your back
It’s aeroplane with an American flag
Friendly fire! Unexpected attack
What was so called Watergate affair?
I don’t know and I don’t care
But I know what has Nixon done
To the war fields of Vietnam
58,000 Santa-soldiers gone
Mr. President was that your goal?
'This is the price for the Vietnam war'
My ass! my ass!
Cause rainbow is still in shadows
She’s standing on platform
Waiting for train to come
Rainbow is still in shadows
She’s standing on the platform
Waiting whole night long
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#132 Proudflesh My Lai My Love 2006 · Album · Proudflesh · Wired Gnome # WG2 · USA
Notes
"My Lai My Love" Themes: My Lai My Lai Analogy
Genres: ♪ PunkMelodic Hardcore
#133 Deadones USA Modern Day Vietnam 2006 · EP · Deadones USA / The Hollow Points · No Front Teeth # NFTR 031 · USA
Annotation
Deadones USA, Punk Rock group formed in 2000 in Spokane, Washington, USA, released the song "Modern Day Vietnam" (No Front Teeth Records # NFTR 031).Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Vietnam Analogy
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
2007
#134 The Furies Vietnam 2007 · Album · The Furies · Canada
Annotation
Formed in January 1977, and originally disbanded in the same year, in Vancouver, BC, Canada, it members included Chris Arnett (guitar, vocals), Werner Von Hitler [Jon Werner] (bass), Malcolm Malcolm (bass, vocals, 1977), Jim Walker (drums, 1977), and Taylor Little (drums, 2007-present). They were said to be "Vancouver’s first punk band", playing gigs that year in 1977, which inspired other well-known bands from that city, including D.O.A. and The Subhumans.12. The group re-united in 1997, releasing this Punk Rock album, containing the song "Vietnam" (# FU1), which noted the contemporary conflict waging at the time: "now we're going to Iraq, everything is getting out of wack" . The narrator reminded the listener that "Vietnam kicked the ass of Uncle Sam" , and that it's "Ho Chi Minh City now that Saigon's gone" , recalling the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975. The lyrics discussed the inequality in those making the decisions and those fighting: "the rich sent the poor to die for their fucked up ideology" . Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Remember when Vietnam kicked the ass of Uncle Sam
When the rich sent the poor to die for their fucked up ideology
Watch the TV, how to fight, for the USA
Remember Vietnam
Tell Uncle Sam
It's Ho Chi Minh City now that Saigon's gone
Now we're going to Iraq
Everything is getting out of wack
The rich send the poor to die for their fucked up ideology
Watch the TV, how to fight for the USA, you could get your instant break
Remember Vietnam, tell Uncle Sam
It's Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon is gone
Won't you teach me how to fight
Watch the TV, how to fight...
Remember Vietnam, tell Uncle Sam...
Genre: ♪ Rock
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#135 We Are Wolves Vietnam 2007 · Album · Total Magique · Dare to Care # DTC030 · Canada
Annotation
Dance-Punk group, a sub-genre of Post-Punk, although many of their songs are more in the Indie Rock genre - from Montréal, Canadian, they recorded the song "Vietnam" (Dare to Care Records # DTC030) which took a generic anti-war position. Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Don't give me no war
Don't give me no lies again...
Theme: Themes Pending
#136 Darcie Miner Ohio 2007 · Compilation · Cinnamon Girl - Women Artists Cover Neil Young For Charity [Disc 1] · American Laundromat # ALR-0012 · USA
Genre: ♪ Punk
Also in: ▤ Kent / Jackson State Songs
2008
#137 Juanita y Los Feos Huracán Ha Llegado a Vietnam 2008 · Album · Juanita y los Feos · Dead Beat # DB 75 · Spain
Annotation
Garage Punk group, formed in 2004 in Madrid, Spain and disbanded in 2016. They released the song "El huracán ha llegado a Vietnam" ( "The hurricane Has Reached Vietnam" ) (Dead Beat Records # DB 75), potentially about the Vietnam War.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Themes Pending
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#138 The Crawlers Movies About Vietnam 2008 · EP · I Hate Michael Vick · Blind Spot # BS-018 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group formed in April 2006 in Portland, Oregon, USA, featuring the members Rick (bass, vocals), Tucker (guitar), and Sam (drums). They disbanded in 2010. This EP contained the song "Movies About Vietnam" (Blind Spot Records # BS-018) which continues to show the influence of Vietnam War films on popular culture.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Theme: Film
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#139 The Jolts Rambo Rat 2008 · Album · God Save the Queers · Asian Man # AM-157 · Canada
Annotation
This was a tribute album to The Queers, featuring a cover of their song "Rambo Rats" (Asian Man Records # AM-157), performed by Canadian punk rock group The Jolts, discussed above.Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
2009
#140 Bunny Skulls Vietnam Vet 2009 · EP · 18 Song E.P. · Punks Before Profits # PBP038 · USA
Notes
Hardcore Punk group, formed in Michigan, USA, featuring Andrew Lersten (guitar, vocals), Scott Bentz (drums), and Jim-Bob (bass)/ This 7" EP contained 18 very short songs, including "Vietnam Vet" (Punks Before Profits Records # PBP038), which came in at 65 seconds!Notes
Punks Before Profits Records; plain black labels. Front sleeve: pen-and-ink drawing of a woman's face held up as a mask on a stick, surrounded by hands, arrows and bones, signed "Scott", headed "Bunny Skulls 18 Song E.P.". Back sleeve: drawing of a woman's face with a stitched-on skin flap, hand-lettered track list - Side A: Bunny Skulls, Nuke Portland, '83 Again, Nice Hooters Shirt Fuckface, No Choice, Typical Youth Crew Song, Group Hug, Screaming in Your Face, Rehab Game;Side B: Devolved, Suicide Poser, Safety Punx, Scene Repression, Lame Photocopied Skulls, You Can't, 20%, Daily War, Vietnam Vet - and band names Andrew, Scott, Jimbob.
Insert: "Jimbob bass, Andrew guitar, Scott drums"; "Recorded at Electric Studios in Chicago, IL by Steve Albini"; lyrics to all 18 songs, "Vietnam Vet" reading "lost in battles lost long ago what year is it you don't even know / vietnam vet a life erased vietnam vet a life debased"; and a photograph of a police officer with a dog seizing a young Black man in a crowded street. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Lyrics
English
Lost in battles lost long ago
What year is it you don't even know
Vietnam vet a life erased
Vietnam vet a life debased
Theme: Vet
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
2010
#141 Destructors Kent State Reprobate 2010 · Album · Dead Beat to White Heat · Rowdy Farrago # RFA03 · UK
Annotation
The Destructors released the song "Kent State Reprobate" , which condemned the actions of the National Guard during the Ohio protests. This Punk Rock band originally formed in 1977 in Peterborough, UK, featuring Alan Adams (vocals, bass), Neil Singleton (vocals), Andy McDonald (drums), Andy Jackson (guitar), Dave Ithermee (guitar), Graham Butts (guitar). Also known as "Destructors 666". Between 1980-1984 they released a series of singles and EPs on political and religious themes, dealing with Reagan and Thatcherite policies, and looking back at the past. In 1982 they released the song "Agent Orange" about the Vietnam War, on the EP Religion! There is No Religion! (Carnage Benelux # kill 2). Their 1984 compilation The Destructors: A Final Testament (Carnage Benelux # kill 666) said "Bomb Hanoi, Bomb Saigon" on its front cover. In 2005, Alan Adams reformed the band in Peterborough, working with many different musicians across many albums.1The lyrics started by looking at the objectives of the demonstrators, who wanted "love and peace" and to "stop the war in Vietnam" , although some people sought "revolution" . But the authorities viewed then as "suppressive communistic crass" . So they sent out the National Guard to "teach them a less, go in hard" . The narrator noted the event as a turning point in people's lives: "in Ohio, innocence was lost" . It also suggested that it had a long-term impact on protest movements, as the National Guard "made them freeze" . The song criticised the military for killing the Vietnamese as well as "their own children" on the university campuses.
Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
They say you were suppressive, communistic crass
The day they bought big guns, there's blood upon the grass
It wasn't all about revolution, more about love and peace
Stop the war in Vietnam
Make the pain and horror cease
Kent State Reprobate
Turn to a world of hate
Turn out the Guard, teach them a lesson go in hard
We'll stop for a moment upon that campus ground
The sound of local fire on our children pouring down
They weren't killers or murders just people's son and daughters
On the day the National Guard turned into a teenager slaughter...
On a sunny day in Ohio, innocence was lost
Kent State Reprobate
Turn to a world of hate
Turn out the Guard, teach them a lesson go in hard...
They're killing their own children as well as those of the Vietnamese
We'll remember...
The National Guard made them freeze
Theme: Kent State
2011
#142 Star Fucking Hipsters War Widows Vietnam 2011 · Album · From the Dumpster to the Grave · Fat # FAT769-2 · USA
Annotation
Punk Rock band formed in 2005 in New York, USA. It had a revolving line-up, but led by Stza (aka Scott Sturgeon). They released the anti-war song "War Widows Vietnam" (Fat Wreck Chords # FAT769-1), which looked at the toll of the war from the Vietnamese home front perspective, "from Da-Nang to Saigon...two hundred thousand dead" , noting the widows left behind. The narrator placed the blame on the "profiteers from the White House to the fucking Pentagon" . The song also noted the widows and parents in the US who lost family: "waste of their sons in a case, draped in red, white and blue" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
War widows Vietnam for you I'll shed a tear
Wish every wrong from Da-Nang to Saigon
Would all just disappear war widows sing a song
Cry for their boys in blue and the fucking disgrace
Of the American race, flown so far to you
I'll tell the tale about a bunch of children
From a small town just like yours and just like mine
The blood like wine
I'll tell the tale about a bunch of virtue lost
And the collateral cost on our minds
In over 40 years of time war widows Vietnam
I sing these songs for you...
From a Vietnamese point of view
War widows Vietnam
Two hundred thousand dead
And the sweat in the palms with the begging of alms
To stop the flag of red, I came to tell the tale about some killers
Who conspired to inflict grievous harm and they set the world to alarm
I'll tell the tale about these fucking killers
Profiteers from the White House to the fucking Pentagon
War widows Vietnam, no welcome home this year
Just the shrapnel paid from the U.S. grenade...
War widows sing a song about their boys, no clue
Or the fucking waste of their sons in a case
Draped in red, white and blue
2013
#143 Thee Goochi Boiz Vietnam 2013 · Album · Fast Food For The Teenage Soul · Burger # BRGR530 · USA
Annotation
Garage Punk group, formed in Boulder, Colorado, USA, featuring Francisco Nightgame, Trevvor, and Thomas Johnson. This album contained the 55 second song "Vietnam" (Burger Records # BRGR530), featuring speedy guitars and the sound-effects of war, ending with a bomb explosion. The lyrics described being sent to war: "they cut all my hair...gave me a gun...put me on ship to...Vietnam" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
They cut all my hair, and they took away my shoes
They gave me a gun...
Put me on ship to a far away land
Now I'm stuck here in Vietnam, Vietnam...
Theme: Guns
#144 Moving Finger P.O.W. / M.I.A. 2013 · EP · Smokin the Crack of Dawn · Goner # 102 GONE · USA
Annotation
Moving Finger, a punk band formed in 2013 in Memphis, Tennessee, by J.B. Horrell (member of the garage punk band Ex-Cult), and featuring his wife Laurel Horrell (drums) and Patrick Glass (bass).1 This album included the short, 49 second song "P.O.W. / M.I.A." (Goner Records # 102 GONE), containing one verse and chorus, repeated twice, which asked Uncle Sam to "find my brother...all alone in prison" in "crazy Vietnam" . Thus, this returned to the 1970s/80s trend of suggesting that prisoners of war remain in Vietnam and that the government needed to do more to bring them home.Sources
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Goner Records; white label with a line drawing of a hand and "45 l.s.d."; black-bordered white sleeve with the band name and a skull-and-arrows emblem. The back lists Side A "Smokin the Crack of Dawn" and "P.O.W. / M.I.A", Side B "Tres Dolares"; Side A recorded by Keith Cooper at the Burgundy Ballroom, Side B recorded by Andrew McCalla. [From the record sleeve and labels]Lyrics
English
Find my brother, find my brother...Uncle Sam
All alone in a prison slump, crazy Vietnam
POW/MIA...find my brother, find my brother
Find my brother, find my brother...Uncle Sam
All alone in a prison slump, crazy Vietnam
POW/MIA...find my brother, find my brother
Genres: ♪ PunkGarage Punk
Also in: ▤ P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs
2014
#145 Gas Rag Endless Vietnam 2014 · Album · Beats Off · Beach Impediment # BIR-011 · USA
Annotation
Hardcore Punk group formed in Chicago, Illinois, USA, released the song "Endless Vietnam" (Beach Impediment Records # BIR-011) - this looked at the industry and economics of war ("recession-proof"), and continual conflict, using the Vietnam War as its point of comparison. It referenced tension between the West and Iran, and "civil war in Syria" , which it described as "money in their banks" . Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
A new Nazi Germany, endless Vietnam
A recession-proof industry
Money to be made
New world order war machine beats off on Iran
Investing in misery
Someone will pay
A civil war in Syria
Money in their banks
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ Vietnam as Comparison
#146 The Rebel Spell 10,000 Years 2014 · Album · Last Run · Rubber Factory # rfr09 · Canada
Notes
Ten Thousand Years (Rebel Spell, The)Punk rock, Kent State
Lyrics
English
I’ve read about brutality through history by agents of every form of state
I know that nothing’s changed and their roles and means are just the same
Do you really think we can fix this thing? It’s been tried again and again...
Jeffrey Miller, Paul Boyd, Two unnamed dead in Winnipeg
Oscar Grant, Rodney Jackson, Ian Bush and Darren Varley
Sharpeville, Marikana, Kent State, not close enough?
Boom Boom Boom Guess who’s at your door?
Themes: Apartheid Kent State
Also in: ▤ Kent / Jackson State Songs
2017
#147 Human Fault My Lai 2017 · Album · Poslední propadne peklu · Cecek # CR 191 · Czech Republic
Notes
- "My Lai"- Hardcore punk
- Czech Republic
- Recorded at Davos Records studio, Vyškov; CD with lyric booklet.
Theme: My Lai
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
2018
#148 Civic New Vietnam 2018 · EP · Anti Fade # ANT - 042 · Australia
Annotation
Garage Punk group formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its line-up included Jim McCullough (vocals), Lewis Hodgson (guitar), David Forcier (drums), Darcy Grigg (guitar), and Roland Hlavka (bass). This EP had the song "New Vietnam" (Anti Fade Records # ANT - 042).Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Drug boys, they teach you good livin'
Drug boys, they teach you how to d-d-d-d-dance
Drug boys, they teach you how to live for nothing
Drug boys, they teach you how to live and learn and die fast
I'm your new Vietnam
Tell you what I am, baby, what I am
Huh
You need a friend and I need a pick-me-up
The least you could do is to fix me up
I need you under my skin, baby
I promise not to love and leave
And I won't get addicted, baby
I'm your new Vietnam
Tell you what I am, baby, what I am
Whoa, I'm your new Vietnam
Tell you what I am, baby, what I am
Whoa
Genres: ♪ PunkGarage Punk
#149 Death Pill Die for Vietnam 2018 · EP · Miss Revolt · Not On Label · Ukraine
Notes
Die for VietnamUkrainian hardcore punk
Fire! Heads out of control,
We’re living in hell!
Just leave them your soul.
Death! Waiting for me another side,
She’s coming from the sky.
I’m here; please tell me why?
Beware! Liars everywhere!
Beware! Napalm’s everywhere!
Bastards! With blind bloody eyes,
Don’t care about these cries,
Wake up and take their lives!
Soldier! You must kill ‘em all
Napalm death for your child, –
Death is my goal!
Beware! Liars everywhere!
Beware! Napalm’s everywhere!
Die! for Vietnam
Cry! for Vietnam
Your father Die! for Vietnam
And you will Die! for Vietnam
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
2019
#150 Negative XP Cops Beating Down on Hippie Scum at the 1968 Democratic National Convention 2019 · Single · Not On Label · USA
Annotation
Garage punk song "Cops Beating Down on Hippie Scum at the 1968 Democratic National Convention" .Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English
Groovy, dude"
"Burn down the barber shop"
"I hate America"
Working class, family man
Got groceries in the sedan
Live is hard but can't complain
Just gotta take it, day to day
Working nine to five, to bring home the bacon
But sometimes it gets so frustrating
The dopers, the robbers and the freaks
Making it unsafe on the streets
So he's got his gun
He's got his badge
He's got his stick
To beat the thrash
All the low class dregs of society
A simple man, keeping the peace
Beat, beat, beat, kill, kill, kill
Stomp them all 'till they lose their will
Shoot first, and ask questions later
A gun is the greatest negotiator
You might also like
Left on Read
Then one day
All these degenerate hippie freaks
Start marching and spreading their pinko propaganda
On the streets
So beat, beat, beat, kill, kill, kill
Stomp them all 'till they lose their will
Shoot first, and ask questions later
A gun is the greatest negotiator
Beat, beat, beat, kill, kill, kill
Stomp them all 'till they lose their will
Shoot first, and ask questions later
A gun is the greatest negotiator
Beat, beat, beat, kill, kill, kill....
Genres: ♪ PunkGarage Punk
Also in: ▤ 1968 Chicago Seven / Eight Songs
2020
#151 The Manges Vietnam Addio 2020 · Album · Punk Rock addio · Striped # STR015-LP · Italy
Notes
Italian punk group. Sung in English.Lyrics
English
Goodbye Vietnam
It’s time to get away
Goodbye Vietnam
This is the toughest game I’ve played
Vietcongs up on the trees
In my contact list, down in the streets
Desperation kicks in too
On this sunday afternoon
Turn off the lights
Bunk with you
Just be kind
Goodbye Vietnam
It’s time to get away
Goodbye Vietnam
This is the toughest game I’ve played
Goodbye Vietnam
It’s time to get away
Goodbye Vietnam
This is the toughest game I’ve played
Dexedrine, lose the hill
There’s no chance you’re gonna win
They all fight for their own homes
Families and honor, you got nothing
In your name
One mission
And deep hate
Farewell, tigers
It’s gonna be alright
Farewell, tigers
It’s gonna be alright
Farewell, tigers
Farewell, tigers
Theme: VC
Also in: ▤ European Songs
2021
#152 Ideation Mỹ Lai Amusement Park 2021 · EP · Blunt Instrument · Dynastic Yellow Star # STAR-004 · USA
Notes
"Mỹ Lai Amusement Park" . Hardcore punkLyrics
English
How many people get to die
At the amusement park in My Lai
Will there be another day
For all the children to laugh and play
Will there be another time
For all the mothers at My Lai
To hold their daughters in the sun
Dancing and singing to the song of the gun
Does it matter what they even say
In a different language
In a foreign tongue
The only truth now is the one written in blood
Screaming and falling down /Holding hands on the ground
Red ribbon and firе across the town
Does it really havе to end?
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
#153 Soylent Green Still Only in Saigon 2021 · Album · Soylent Green · Wild Planet # WP13 · UK
Notes
"Still Only in Saigon" - London, UK, Minimal Wave - "Retrospective term for more Electronic and minimal forms of New Wave, Post-Punk, Synthpop, and related styles, tending towards a more sparse and lo-fi sound". - classic line "Saigon. Shit. I'm still only in Saigon" spoken by Captain Willard in the iconic opening monologue of Apocalypse Now (1979) - Corporation Cassettes # CC8 [From Justin A. Brummer notes from RYM]2023
#154 The Uncouth My Lai 2023 · Album · The Uncouth · Insurgence / Contra # IRLP067 / CR 390 · USA
Notes
- My Lai- Oi punk from Kansas City, USA
Theme: My Lai
Also in: ▤ My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs
2024
#155 Just Urbain My Love My Lai 2024 · Compilation · Raw & Alive 78 - 81 · Shake # SM10 · Australia
Notes
- My Love My Lai- Australian punk, Brisbane
- Archival, recorded 1978-81, but only released in 2024
Themes: My Lai My Lai Analogy
#156 Just Urbain My Love My Lai (Studio Coda) 2024 · Compilation · Raw & Alive 78 - 81 · Shake # SM10 · Australia
Annotation: see “My Love My Lai” above (same release).
Themes: My Lai My Lai Analogy
2025
#157 Cemënteri Vietnam me mata 2025 · Album · Panorama en llamas · Quebranta / Repetidor / L'Esklafit # QR-049 / R165 / LSKF12 · Spain
Notes
- Vietnam me mata- Punk, Spain
Theme: Themes Pending
Genres: ♪ PunkHardcore Punk
Also in: ▤ European Songs
#158 Star Matriarch Mỹ Lai to Rafah 2025 · Album · Red Ship · Exotic Fever · USA
Annotation
“My Lai to Rafah”also cover of Trinh Cong Son’s anti-war song “Xin Cho Tôi”.
From interview in Punk News
" My parents were refugees from the Vietnam War, aka the American War. Out of all the ongoing atrocities caused by the US foreign policy of my lifetime, Palestine feels the most personal, and I wanted to explore why - why have my intergenerational wounds been feeling that much more acute ever since October 7th? Aside from the fact that this latest round has been the most public, the most blatant acts of unapologetic genocide, aside from the fact that as a mother it should not be mere privilege to witness my kids grow while their peers across the globe live under such horrific violence.
This song taps into sacred rage, an indictment of the Eurocentric cultural norms, the resource-grabbing, manifest destiny BS that allows for this violence. Musically, it revolves around my interpretation of the nawari rhythm, which I was introduced to when studying Dabke, a traditional dance popular in the Levant region, including Palestine. Watching people dabke collectively, in community, and in this geopolitical context, is incredibly life-affirming to witness.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Bui's track-by-track (Punknews) links her parents' refugee experience to Rafah; built on a nawari rhythm learned from dabke. The album's cover of Trịnh Công Sơn's "Xin Cho Tôi" is a separate track. Digital June 2025; vinyl January 2026. Exotic Fever Records, P.O. Box 297, College Park, Maryland. [From the Rate Your Music label page]Lyrics
English
That night I dreamt of a violent sky
Of our ancestors’ grieving faces
In a cloud of smoke and debris
Helplessly watching their babies bleed
Their bones dry beneath my feet
My cries carried by a cinnamon haze
Their bones embraced by the earth and we’re one, so we move
Oh the moon was our witness /Oh ooh the moon our star witness
You trying to fight me in my own jungle?
It’s not a maze in your sweet little pumpkin patch
So you Set fire to fields you’re too weak to work
Bomb mountains you’re just too weak to climb
Set fire to fields you’re too weak to work
To the stone age, back to the stone age?
Fuck your empire, fuck your weapons
Fuck your uninspired prayers
Fuck your family, cuz where’s my family, my whole family, family, family…
Oooh, the moon, is she your witness?
Oh the moon’s our star witness
Oh who gave you the right?
Oh the moon bless our sacred revenge
Fuck your money, fuck your currency
Fuck your agents named after the rainbow
Fuck your technology, your “innovations”
Fuck your Roman script, we have our own
Fuck your canonical works of whatever
Fuck your canonical works of whatever
Fuck your canonical works of whatever
Whatever whatever, whatever, whatever, ever ever ever
But From Mỹ Lai to Rafah,
We live and love harder than you’ll ever know
From Sand Creek to Rafah
We live and love harder than you’ll ever know
Batangas to Rafah
We live and love harder than you’ll ever know
Port Âu Prince to Rafah
We live and love live and love
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.
Show all 34 themes ▾Key stats
157 songs · 151 releases · 140 artists · 127 labels · 1973–2025 · 1 more list entries have no record page yet and are not counted here
Time period
- 1983 and 1984 share the peak, with 13 songs each.
- 1981–84 holds 46 of the 157 dated songs — one in four in four years.
- 2 were released during the war years (to 1975); 155 came after.
Artists
- 140 artists for 157 songs — almost every act appears exactly once. The most represented are MDC and The Clash, with three each.
- Nine of the artists are still unidentified beyond the record: no line-up, no biography.
Songwriters
- Songwriter gender is recorded for 19 of the 157 songs: 17 by men and two by mixed teams.
- By performer: 133 men, 15 mixed groups, five not identified and four women (recorded for 157).
- 48 named songwriters. The most often credited is Jello Biafra, with two.
Labels
- 114 of the 127 labels appear exactly once; Alternative Tentacles has the most, with seven.
- 24 sit on a major or well-known imprint — Alternative Tentacles, CBS, SST, Rough Trade, Sire, Columbia, I.R.S., Island. The other 133 are on independent, regional or private labels.
- Five are private pressings with no label at all.
Locations
- 87 of the 157 are American. California leads with 21, then New York ten and Texas six.
- London accounts for eleven records, more than any other city; Austin has four, Bristol four.
- 70 come from outside the US: 31 British, six Australian, five Canadian, five Spanish, five Swedish, three German, and others.
Themes
- By perspective: 155 post-war; one home front or soldier's perspective; one peace, protest and anti-war.
- 105 distinct sub-themes across 157 songs.
- Vet is the single biggest subject — 28 songs, one in ten.
- Next come Anti-War (23), Vietnam Analogy (23), Napalm (22) and PTSD (15).