Dear Mama
Ward Frederick GO11 · USA
- Artist
- Ward Frederick
- Title
- Dear Mama
- Release
- Dear Mama / Sound of My Life
- Label
- Ward Frederick # GO11
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- Ward Frederick
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Folk
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The song "Dear Mama" by Ward Frederick - claims that it is neither for or against the war. But the narrator, a soldier in Vietnam, expresses major doubts about the purpose of the war and the lack of support from home, suggesting that there should not be a war. Category: anti-war. Reference to anti-war demonstration. Singer/songwriter
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Dear mama, I'm sorry I haven't written much lately / Well I guess we have a lot to do out here mama / I wrote this little song mama, it's not for and it's not against... / What am I doing here in Vietnam? / Why did it have to happen to me? / This job I've got, I must confess / It's quite a drag, it's quite a mess / And I don't know if I'm fighting for liberty... / Sometimes I wonder whether I'll make it / I look into the darkness and cry / I wipe the tears from my face, put the rifle in its place... / I wonder whether I'll die / We talk much out here about wrong and right / We just sleep when the word is sleep / And we fight when we fight... / Does anybody know that we're dying? / Does anybody care at home? / Back in the states there marching strong / There carrying signs saying that we're wrong / And if nobody wants this war then why am I here?
Notes
GO11B, label headed "Ward Frederick", 2724 N. Lehman Court, Chicago, Illinois 60614; "Dear Mama" (Ward Frederick), time 3:14. Yellow label. [From the record sleeve and labels]