Ain't I Right

Annotation

Marty Robbins, one of the most politically conservative and patriotic country songwriters, composed the song "Ain't I Right", which attacked both communism and the anti-war movement as being un-American. His label Columbia Records refused to release his recording as they feared a backlash. So a member of Robbins band, Bobby Sykes, released the song under the name Johnny Freedom, on the independent Phoenix, Arizona based label Sims Records.1 The narrator told the story of some people who visited a southern town, described as "a bearded, hatless bunch", who spread their un-American propaganda: "you bring a lot of trouble to the town and then you leave, that's part of your Communistic game". The narrator then turned on the anti-war movement and draft card burners - the lyrics told of a politician who wanted to send blood to Vietnam. The narrator thought it would be better to "send that politician man". The song concluded that in order to "win this war with communism", it would be important to "fight it here as well as Vietnam", thus a representation of cultural and political conflict in the US in the 1960s. Autry Inman released a version on his album Ballad of Two Brothers (1968).Sources1Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War (Lee Andresen, 2003)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: The country's full of two-faced politicians / Who encourage you with words that go like this / Burn your draft card if you like, it's good to disagree / One politician said it would be nice to send some blood and help the enemy in Vietnam, that's what he says / Here's what I say, let's just keep the blood, instead let's send that politician man / Let's rid the country of the politicians... / This kind of leader makes our country weak / If we're to win this war with Communism let's fight it here as well as Vietman / Let's rise as one and meet our obligations / So communistic boots will never trod across the fields of freedom that were given to us

Notes

Sims Records 296, produced by Robbins Records; both sides written by Marty Robbins, Mojave Music, Inc., BMI. 296A "Ain't I Right", time 3:12; 296B "My Own Native Land", time 2:57. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Born Paris, Tennessee, USA (6 August 1928). Known as Bobby Sykes.

Themes

Patriotic · Demonstration · Draft Card Burning · Religion · Anti-Protest · Draft

In collections

Draft Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]