Boy in the Sand Box

Annotation — Draft Songs

This garage rock album, written in Minneapolis, Minn. in 1968, was only released in 2002 (Sub Pop Records # SPCD 508). It featured two songs referencing the Vietnam War. The song "Kill the Enemy" focused on the reaction of a man being drafted to war and being forced to kill the enemy. It noted that the voting age in the US was higher than the drafting age, just like several Vietnam War songs (see Barry McGuire's Eve of Destruction). The song also mocked Christian teachings on murder: The track "Boy in the Sandbox" started with a boy playing with toy soldiers in a sand box, later drafted to Vietnam and subsequently killed. The song ended with guitar noise resembling machine-gun fire:

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Garage Rock Songs

The track "Boy in the Sandbox" started with a boy playing with toy soldiers in a sand box, later drafted to Vietnam and subsequently killed. The song ended with guitar noise resembling machine-gun fire:

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Once there was little boy who spent his days in his sandbox with his toys / His favourite one a soldier with a gun / They had so much fun / Oh boy and then he left his sandbox for another toy / Called a girl... / Now he's waiting for the day when he can see his lady love / The world it knocks him to the ground and six feet of sand cover him up / Peaceful days are now at hand and everyone is feeling grand / Except the girl whose in her room / Except the boys whose in his tomb of sand / She looked into her draw and found something that he gave her when he said goodbye / She read the letter telling her how the bomb blast hurt his ears

About the artist

Formed 1967, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

Garage Rock Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Draft Songs