I Stayed Away Too Long

Annotation

The funky song "I stayed Away Too Long" (Diamond Jim Recording # 900) came out of Detroit, Michigan, in 1969. Sung by Manuel Holcolm, it was written by G. Current and Jim Riley, known in Detroit soul circles as Diamond Jim - he founded the labels Diamond Jim, Big D, and Riley's Recording Co.. So in this song a soldier is "laying in a foxhole...in Vietnam", reading a letter from his girl while "covered all in mud". The soldier soon discovers that "something was wrong" and that she has left him for someone else. But the soldier cries that "I couldn't help myself, I stayed away too long". This is another song representing both the fear and the reality that some soldiers found their personal relationships, from back home, broken off because of the conflict.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I got in at three this morning, I called you on the phone / I got a funny feeling, baby, when they said you weren't at home... / Your mother said listen son, my daughters not coming in / Oh I stayed away too long, yes I did, stayed away too long / Listen, when I got your last letter I knew something was wrong / But I was laying in a foxhole baby in Vietnam / With the lights on dim, I couldn't even read / But I was covered all in mud from my head to my feet / I stayed away too, too long, yes I did, stayed away too long / Girl you said that you would love me / And you told me that you would wait / Do you remember what you said baby / Because you've taken you love away / I couldn't help myself, I stayed away too long... / Thinking you would be true...saving all my love for you

Notes

Diamond Jim Records DJ-900, matrix DJ-17755-PL, vocal; "I Stayed Away Too Long" (Diamond Jim–G. Current), pub. Steve-Dot-Syderia-Cotillion, BMI, time 2:30; Manuel B. Holcolm and His Band, produced by Diamond Jim and G. Current. "Dist. by Cotillion, Div. of Atlantic Recording Corp., 1841 B'way, N.Y., N.Y." [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Manuel B. Holcolm was an American soul and funk singer who recorded for James Riley's Detroit label Diamond Jim in the late 1960s, cutting 'This Generation' and 'Mary Jane (Somebody Goin' To Take Your Thing)' besides the record noted here. "I Stayed Away Too Long", a first-person account of a serviceman returning from Vietnam to find that his woman had not waited, was issued as by Manuel B. Holcolm And His Band on Diamond Jim 45-900 in October 1969, backed with the instrumental 'Kick Out - Ins', with writing and production credited to Diamond Jim and G. Current; the track was later…

Themes

Soldier's Perspective · Jody

In collections

Jody Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs · US Combat Perspective Songs [War Years]