Credited on the record as Butch Christofer (And The High Camp Society Band).
We Done Wrong!
1971 · Chicken Row CR-1002 · USA
- Artist
- Butch Christofer
- Credited on the record as
- Butch Christofer (And The High Camp Society Band)
- Title
- We Done Wrong!
- Release
- We Done Wrong! / We'll Have Fun
- Year
- 1971
- Label
- Chicken Row # CR-1002
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- Arthur K. Weathers
- Genre
- Country · Country Rock
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The song "We Done Wrong!" (Chicken Row Records # CR-1002) can probably be classified as a song about My Lai and Calley - although it does not refer to either of those. Released by Butch Christofer and The High Camp Society Band, written by Arthur K. Weathers, and produced by Group V Productions. In the track, the first person narration starts off with a soldier heading to Vietnam with an open mind. However, the platoon encounters the Vietcong, which results in the killing of the enemy, as they were taught to do. They dumped the bodies in a pit: "we met old charlie, Vietcong, shot him dead... rolled him over in a open hole". But someone stepped up to oppose the killings. Back in the US, with the support of the Congress, the soldiers are sentenced to life imprisonment by a jury, thus echoing the story of William Calley and the My Lai Massacre. The final line possibly made a reference to President Nixon. The narrators position, in terms of support for the soldier, the war, or anti-war was not clear, and thus placed in the soldier's perspective sector.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs
The song "We Done Wrong!" (Chicken Row Records # CR-1002) can probably be classified as a song about My Lai and Calley - although it does not refer to either of those. Released by Butch Christofer and The High Camp Society Band, written by Arthur K. Weathers, and produced by Group V Productions. In the track, the first person narration starts off with a soldier heading to Vietnam with an open mind. However, the platoon encounters the Vietcong, which results in the killing of the enemy, as they were taught to do. They dumped the bodies in a pit: "we met old charlie, Vietcong, shot him dead... rolled him over in a open hole". But someone stepped up to oppose the killings. Back in the US, with the support of the Congress, the soldiers are sentenced to life imprisonment by a jury, thus echoing the story of William Calley and the My Lai Massacre. The final line possibly made a reference to President Nixon.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Left my home in New Orleans, stopped for a while in the Philippines / On my way to a place called Vietnam / Rats and snakes in the grass, crawling up to bite my leg / Got to be careful in place called Vietnam / We got there with an open mind / Everything was going fine until we met old charlie, Vietcong / Shot him dead like we'd been told / Rolled him over in a open hole and a man stepped up and told us 'You done wrong'... / Gonna have to send you off to jail / Got the Congress on my back.... / Jury said we done wrong / Shooting all them Vietcong just as though we didn't give a damn... / We got life, complements of Uncle Sam... / I done wrong, we done wrong / Everybody's done wrong / Richard done wrong
Notes
Chicken Row Records CR-1002-A, Side 1, stereo, © 1971 GVP, green label with a rooster drawing; "We Done Wrong!" (Arthur K. Weathers), St. Elmo Music, BMI, time 2:29; produced by Group V Productions; Butch Christofer (And The High Camp Society Band). [From the record sleeve and labels]
Themes
My Lai · Anti-War · Nixon · Anti-Calley · Calley-Danger · Calley-Order · Calley-Justice · My Lai-Type
In collections
My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · US Combat Perspective Songs [War Years]