Goodnight Saigon

Annotation

The pop rock song "Goodnight Saigon" (Columbia Records # 38-03780) is one of the most popular and well-known post-war Vietnam War songs released in the 1980s. It is often portrayed as capturing the spirit of the conflict, ten years after its conclusion. It covers many aspects of the war in the space of seven minutes. It starts out with US marines beginning their military training in the US, eager to fight the enemy: “we met as soul mates on Parris Island…we were so gun ho to lay down our lives”. Joel moved on to the soldiers new conditions in Vietnam: “"we had no home front, we had no soft soap...we dug in deep and shot on sight". But the narrator pointed out that the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese had strategic advantages over the US search and destroy tactics: "we held the coastline, they held the highlands...they heard the hum of our motors, they counted the rotors, and waited for us to arrive". The song also sought to present the cultural atmosphere of US soldier life on Vietnam bases, such as music and drugs: "They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope...we passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes". The song also featured on the 1982 album The Nylon Curtain (Columbia Records #QC 38200). The single reached # 56 in the US Billboard Hot 100 on 2 April 1983.1 Billy Joel was born 9 May 1949, Bronx, New York, USA. Sources1Billboard: Chart history↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: We met as soul mates on Parris Island / We left as inmates from an asylum / And we were sharp, as sharp as knives / And we were so gung ho to lay down our lives / We came in spastic like tameless horses / We left in plastic as numbered corpses / And we learned fast to travel light / Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight / We had no home front, we had no soft soap / They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope / We dug in deep and shot on sight / And prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might / We had no cameras to shoot the landscape / We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes / And it was dark, so dark at night / And we held on to each other like brother to brother / We promised our mothers we'd write / And we would all go down together / We said we'd all go down together / Yes, we would all go down together / Remember Charlie, remember Baker / They left their childhood on every acre / And who was wrong? And who was right? / It didn't matter in the thick of the fight / We held the day in the palm of our hands / They ruled the night, and the night / Seemed to last as long as six weeks / On Parris Island / We held the coastline, they held the highlands / And they were sharp, as sharp as knives / They heard the hum of our motors, they counted the rotors / And waited for us to arrive / And we would all go down together / We said we'd all go down together / Yes, we would all go down together

Notes

CBS CBSA 3029, 45 RPM, stereo, side 1, made in Holland, LC 0149, BIEM/STEMRA; "Goodnight Saigon" (B. Joel), 6:58, Joel Songs; ℗ 1982 CBS Inc.; "Taken from the CBS CX Lp 'The Nylon Curtain' CBS CX 85959"; produced by Phil Ramone; Family Productions logo. The picture sleeve front shows a black-and-white photograph of Billy Joel seated writing at a desk; the back prints the full lyrics, beginning "We met as soul mates / On Parris Island", with "℗ 1982 CBS Inc. / © 1982 CBS Grammofoonplaten B.V. … Printed in Holland". [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

American singer-songwriter, born 9 May 1949 in the Bronx, New York ('Goodnight Saigon'). [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Soldier's Perspective