Come Back From Viet Nam

Annotation

The country song "Come Back From Viet Nam" (New Star Records # 623P-124) by Toni Dae and Carl Knight told the story of a soldier killed in action (K.I.A.). He told the listener that "I'm coming home from Vietnam in a lonely box". The song started with the soldier's partner (narrated by a female vocalist) waking up in the middle of the night, thinking of him. She wrote the soldier a letter, telling him that the children miss him. However, the soldier, listening in from beyond the grave (a male vocalist entered), wished that he could tell his wife that he had already died in Vietnam last week. Thus, it looked at the negative impact the war had on a soldier's family. Released in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, USA. Composed by Carl Knight.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Come back from Vietnam, I just woke from a dream so real / I thought I felt your touch, it's past midnight, but I must write / I miss you all so much, I held your picture close to me / 'Till your paper lips taste warm, as nights grow old, those lips grow cold / Come back from Vietnam / I just can't put it into words / How the children miss you dear / We sit at night and talk about the times you were here / But suddenly I feel so strange, with fear I'm overcome, god only knows.... / Come back from Vietnam, I'm right here with you now sweetheart / If only you could hear me speak / I'd talk with you before they let you know I was killed last week / Tell the children how I loved them dear / Or they will forget in time / I'm coming home from Vietnam / In a lonely box up high, I've held your picture close to me

Notes

New Star N-37 (SK5M-7103, 623P-124), green label, "Manufactured by New Star Records, Goodlettsville, Tennessee, U.S.A."; "Come Back From Viet Nam" (Carl Knight), 2:29, Pamper Music, Inc., BMI. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Soldier's Perspective · K.I.A.

In collections

US Domestic Perspective Songs [War Years]