Ballad of Our P.O.W.'s

Annotation — US Domestic Perspective Songs

The song "Ballad of Our P.O.W.'s" (Priceless # PR-708) by Johnny Price, a country singer based in Nashville, Tennessee, who sounded very similar to Johnny Cash, as suggested in the artist name. A familiar commercial technique, as seen with the country artist Johnny Paycheck. Johnny Price released the song "The Lieutenant's Last Salute" (Rexell # 45-106) in 1971 about the My Lai massacre. The narrator of the song showed concern for the plight of the P.O.W.s, refusing to celebrate the end of the war with marches and beating drums "until we bring back our prisoners of war". It pointed out that many families faced uncertainty about the status of their loved ones - whether, M.I.A., P.O.W., or K.I.A. According to the The Sumter Daily, South Carolina, Price wrote the song in support of Sandy Bagley, the wife of P.O.W. Major Bobby Ray Bagley, captured in North Vietnam on 16 September 1967, and released on 14 March 1973.1. The article said that "Johnny Price...is ready to release his own recording to help her cause, The Ballad of the POW".2 She released the 1972 single "POWMIA", as well as co-writing the b-side of this single. On the b-side of this single, the song "Santa Bring My Daddy for Christmas" dealt with the Vietnam War, Christmas, and the P.O.W. theme. A spoken-word track, it is split into two narratives. The first one, narrated by the female vocalist Marty Lizabeth, recalled seeing a boy at a shopping mall asking Santa to bring home his father from Vietnam. He explained: "my daddy is a prisoner of war". In the second narration by Johnny Price, the boy's father (the soldier) spoke from Vietnam, saying that Santa may be too busy to get him home in time for Christmas, although "dreams do come true". Composed by Sandy Bagley and Johnny Price.& Sources1P.O.W. Network↩2Google News Archive↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs

The song "Ballad of Our P.O.W.'s" (Priceless # PR-708) by Johnny Price, a country singer based in Nashville, Tennessee, who sounded very similar to Johnny Cash, as suggested in the artist name. A familiar commercial technique, as seen with the country artist Johnny Paycheck. Johnny Price released the song "The Lieutenant's Last Salute" (Rexell # 45-106) in 1971 about the My Lai massacre. The narrator of the song showed concern for the plight of the P.O.W.s, refusing to celebrate the end of the war with marches and beating drums "until we bring back our prisoners of war". It pointed out that many families faced uncertainty about the status of their loved ones - whether, M.I.A., P.O.W., or K.I.A. According to the The Sumter Daily, South Carolina, Price wrote the song in support of Sandy Bagley, the wife of P.O.W. Major Bobby Ray Bagley, captured in North Vietnam on 16 September 1967, and released on 14 March 1973.1. The article said that "Johnny Price...is ready to release his own recording to help her cause, The Ballad of the POW".2 She released the 1972 single "POWMIA", as well as co-writing the b-side of this single.Sources1P.O.W. Network↩2Google News Archive↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Christmas Songs

Johnny Price, a country singer based in Nashville, Tennessee, who sounded very similar to Johnny Cash, as suggested in the artist name. A familiar commercial technique, as seen with the country artist Johnny Paycheck. Johnny Price released the song "The Lieutenant's Last Salute" (Rexell # 45-106) in 1971 about the My Lai massacre. On the a-side, in the song "Ballad of Our P.O.W.'s" the narrator showed concern for the plight of the P.O.W.s, refusing to celebrate the end of the war with marches and beating drums. According to the The Sumter Daily, South Carolina, Price wrote the song in support of Sandy Bagley, the wife of P.O.W. Major Bobby Ray Bagley, captured in North Vietnam on 16 September 1967, and released on 14 March 1973.1. The article said that "Johnny Price...is ready to release his own recording to help her cause, The Ballad of the POW".2 She released the 1972 single "POWMIA". On the b-side of this single, the song "Santa Bring My Daddy for Christmas" (Priceless # PR-708) dealt with the Vietnam War, Christmas, and the P.O.W. theme. A spoken-word track, it is split into two narratives. The first one, narrated by the female vocalist Marty Lizabeth, recalled seeing a boy at a shopping mall asking Santa to bring home his father from Vietnam. He explained: "my daddy is a prisoner of war". In the second narration by Johnny Price, the boy's father (the soldier) spoke from Vietnam, saying that Santa may be too busy to get him home in time for Christmas, although "dreams do come true". Composed by Sandy Bagley and Johnny Price. Sources1P.O.W. Network↩2Google News Archive↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: No marching, no glory, no beating of the drum, no battle is over, no victory is one / But less we forget our men behind those captive doors / We'll sing until we bring back our prisoners of war / We see tears of the loved ones that they've left... / Suffering the anguish of an uncertain mind / Not knowing the answer, dead or alive / But their hope and their faith and their love still survive... / We see mothers and sister and wives by the score all pledging and praying for our prisoners of war / They watch days pass to months... turn to years / Only god can know the depths of their tears... / They say time will heal the hurt for the dead / But time cannot erase the fear and the dread we feel for the men who have given so much more / God bless and free them, our prisoners of war Christmas day will soon be here / My toys are wanted every year / But just one thing please Santa dear I'm asking you this Christmas / Today as I was Christmas shopping in a large department store / I heard Santa Claus asked the little boy what he wanted the very most for Christmas / As he turned and looked up at Santa, this is what I heard him say: / 'Dear Mr. Santa, he have no list from me / For I want only one thing this Christmas... / If I could just have my daddy how very happy I would be / Please Mr. Santa, won't you bring him home to me / My daddy is a prisoner of war, I've heard my mommy say / Oh Mr. Santa, could you bring him home for Christmas day / I can still hear him saying even…

Notes

Priceless PR-708, white-and-red label, P.O. Box 1391, Nashville, Tenn.; "Ballad of Our P.O.W.'s" (J. Price), SON 100131, time 3:07, and "Santa, Bring Daddy for Christmas" (S. Bagley - J. Price), SON 100132, time 3:07, Johnny Price with Marty Lizabeth; both Priceless Music, BMI, producer J. Price. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

P.O.W. · Patriotic

In collections

US Domestic Perspective Songs [War Years] · Christmas Songs · P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]