Bye, Bye, Baby, Hello Vietnam
Shatter 2317 · USA
- Artist
- Henry Scott Jr
- Title
- Bye, Bye, Baby, Hello Vietnam
- Release
- Bye, Bye, Baby, Hello Vietnam / Shing-Ga-Ling
- Label
- Shatter # 2317
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- Henry Scott Jr.
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
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
About the artist
Unknown - the record is documented but the performer is not. 'Bye, Bye, Baby, Hello Vietnam' (4:28) was issued on Shatter 2317 in 1967 credited to Henry Scott Jr. and the Ambassadors, backed with 'Shing-Ga-Ling'; it is a scarce funk and soul 45, and no biographical record has been located. [Source: Discogs (release only)]
Themes
In collections
Draft Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs · US Combat Perspective Songs