Steve Goodman

Ballad of Penny Evans

1973 · Buddah BDS 5121 · USA

Artist
Steve Goodman
Title
Ballad of Penny Evans
Release
Somebody Else's Troubles
Year
1973
Label
Buddah # BDS 5121
Format
LP · Album
Language
English
Country
USA
Songwriter
Steve Goodman
Genre
Folk · Contemporary Folk
Primary theme
Post-War

Annotation

The song "The Ballad of Penny Evans" (Buddah Records # BDS 5121) was about the impact of a soldier's death on his family back home in the US: "I'm a widow of the war that was fought in Vietnam". The widow leaned towards the anti-war side, criticising the death of 50,000 US soldiers. The negative impact on the family portrayed in the song painted Vietnam, and war in general, as a senseless waste and destroying a family.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

Broadway musical

About the artist

American singer-songwriter, born 25 July 1948 in Chicago, Illinois; died 20 September 1984 in Seattle, Washington. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Soldier's Perspective

In collections

Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs