Bye, Bye, Baby, Hello Vietnam

Annotation

The track "Bye, Bye, Baby, Hello Vietnam" (Shatter Records # 2317) by Henry Scott Jr. - released on a Nashville, Tennessee based label - was mainly a love song, in which a soldier reassured his sweetheart that "I'll make it back to you one day". It did not take a clear position on the war, but the narrator expressed either a sense of duty or fear of the law, as going to Vietnam was "something that I must do". Was the soldier reluctantly drafted, or proudly fighting for his country? The narrator tells his sweetheart at the end of the track that he wanted to avoid "just to be in love and not being free" - once again, is that a reference to prison (for avoiding the draft) or supporting the government's war objectives?

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I wrote a letter only the other day / It was hard to explain the things I wanted to say / But I tried to tell her the reason I had to go / To the far away land even though I loved her so / I said goodbye, goodbye baby, hello to Vietnam / I told her not to worry while I am gone / And when it's all over I'll be with you all night long / Try to remember something that I must do / And when it's all over baby, I'll come back to you / I said goodbye, goodbye baby, hello to Vietnam / I begged her not to cry, please don't have any fear... / There's one more man, don't forget to pray / That I'll make it back to you one day / Why is it so hard to explain that it's you a really love... / But just to be in love and not being free / Something I know you won't ever want to happen to me I wrote a letter only the other day / It was hard to explain the things I wanted to say / But I tried to tell her the reason I had to go / To the far away land even though I loved her so / I said goodbye, goodbye baby, hello to Vietnam / I told her not to worry while I am gone / And when it's all over I'll be with you all night long / Try to remember something that I must do And when it's all over baby, I'll come back to you / I said goodbye, goodbye baby, hello to Vietnam / I begged her not to cry, please don't have any fear... / There's one more man, don't forget to pray / That I'll make it back to you one day / Why is it so hard to explain that it's you a really love... / But just to be in love…

Themes

Soldier's Perspective

In collections

Draft Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs · US Combat Perspective Songs [War Years]