Coming Home Soldier
1966 · Epic 5-10090 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Bobby Vinton
- Title
- Coming Home Soldier
- Release
- Coming Home Soldier / Don't Let My Mary Go Around
- Year
- 1966
- Label
- Epic # 5-10090
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Songwriter
- Bobby Vinton/Gene Allen
- Genre
- Easy Listening · Easy Listening
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The track "Coming Home Soldier" (Epic Records # 5-10090), by traditional pop singer Bobby Vinton, born on 16 April 1935 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, and currently based in California, reached # 11 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and thus a very successful, mainstream song about a veteran. It entered the charts in November 1966, and slowly clawed its way up, reaching its peak after 8 weeks on 7 January 1967.1 In the late 1950s Vinton had served in the US Army as an assistant chaplain. He mentioned no specific country in this track. The narrator, a soldier, celebrated his upcoming journey home from the war zone. He called himself "just a soldier" with "no purple heart" - the US military decoration awarded by the president to those wounded or killed in action. This undecorated, common soldier, remembered the girl he left behind, who had been waiting patiently while he was "helping to keep our land free" - so a small patriotic reference at the end..Sources1Billboard, 7 January 1967↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs
The track "Coming Home Soldier" (Epic Records # 5-10090), by traditional pop singer Bobby Vinton, born on 16 April 1935 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, and currently based in California, reached # 11 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and thus a very successful, mainstream song about a veteran. It entered the charts in November 1966, and slowly clawed its way up, reaching its peak after 8 weeks on 7 January 1967.1 In the late 1950s Vinton had served in the US Army as an assistant chaplain. He mentioned no specific country in this track. The narrator, a soldier, celebrated his upcoming journey home from the war zone. He called himself "just a soldier" with "no purple heart" - the US military decoration awarded by the president to those wounded or killed in action. This undecorated, common soldier, remembered the girl he left behind, who had been waiting patiently while he was "helping to keep our land free" - so a small patriotic reference at the end. Sources1Billboard, 7 January 1967↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Home, I'm coming home / Coming home from across the sea / Home, I'm coming home / No more marching and fighting for me / I am soldier, a coming home soldier / No purple heart do I wear on my chest / I'm just a soldier, a coming home soldier / I know that I, I've done my best.... / The girl I left behind has been waiting patiently, she said / She didn't mind, cause helpin keep our land free
Notes
Epic 5-10090 (ZSP 116052), 45 RPM, yellow label, "Printed in U.S.A."; "Coming Home Soldier" (G. Allen – B. Vinton); arranged, conducted and produced by Robert Mersey. Picture sleeve: blue-tinted black-and-white head-and-shoulders photo of Bobby Vinton smiling, with "Bobby Vinton / Coming Home Soldier" in white lettering and the Epic logo. [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
Born 16 April 16, 1935, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, USA. Currently California, USA
Themes
In collections
US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]