Bring the Boys Home

Annotation

In the song "Bring the Boys Home" (Invictus # 9092), Freda Payne (born in Detroit, Michigan) emotionally pleaded with the politicians to end the war and send back the soldiers, noting the fathers and mothers left on the home front. It referenced the draft / call of Uncle Sam: "You marched them away...on ships and planes", and strongly attacked the purpose of the war, calling it "senseless" and "death in vain". Finally, Payne declared that "enough men have already been...killed". Influenced by the Philly Soul sound, with strings, the song had an upbeat tone, despite the serious and depressing lyrics, and it reached # 3 on the Billboard R&B charts, and # 12 on the pop charts. Composed by General Johnson (from the band Chairmen of the Board), Greg Perry, and Angelo Bond, all involved with the Detroit based label Invictus - founded by Holland-Dozier-Holland after they left Motown Records in 1967. The American Armed Force network banned the song in South Vietnam. (1) Payne discussed the song in a 2011 interview with soulmusic.com, saying that: "it was the height of the Vietnam War, and Richard Nixon was the President of the Republican party, and I remember first hearing it play and…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Born 19 September 1942, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Themes

Anti-War · Nixon

In collections

Draft Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs