Long Black Wall

Annotation

Post-war 80s pop rock / fanfare song "Long Black Wall" (Country Star # 504) by a group called Remember When, out of Franklin, Pennsylvania, USA. A promotional sheet which came with the record said: "written and produced by Bob Belche, Viet Nam marine, awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star. Sounds-effects are the Bulger, Marching, and gun fire of the National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA".1 The sound-effects are a reference to about half-way through the track, when the narrator has a flashback to Vietnam, a representation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The lyrics of the song paid tribute to those those died: "remembering you this way, precious names on a long black Wall". Song is listed in the 1989 edition of Songwriter's Market.2 The label Country Star, a subsidiary of Process Records, released a bunch of other Vietnam-related records, such as "Missing in Action" by Tom Booker (click on label link for more).Sources1Long Black Wall (Remember When) (Promo Sheet)↩2google.com: Songwriter s Market↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Veterans Memorial Wall Songs

Post-war 80s pop rock / fanfare song "Long Black Wall" (Country Star # 504) by a group called Remember When, out of Franklin, Pennsylvania, USA. A promotional sheet which came with the record said: "written and produced by Bob Belche, Viet Nam marine, awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star. Sounds-effects are the Bulger, Marching, and gun fire of the National Guard at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA".1 The sound-effects are a reference to about half-way through the track, when the narrator has a flashback to Vietnam, a representation of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The lyrics of the song paid tribute to those those died: "remembering you this way, precious names on a long black Wall". Song is listed in the 1989 edition of Songwriter's Market.2 The label Country Star, a subsidiary of Process Records, released a bunch of other Vietnam-related records, such as "Missing in Action" by Tom Booker (click on label link for more). Sources1Long Black Wall (Remember When) (Promo Sheet)↩2google.com: Songwriter s Market↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Precious names on a long black Wall, hear the muffled drums / The bugle call for a mothers son, daddy's girl / Names in stone for a living world / As I was walking by my house I saw some soldier boys in uniform so tall and proud / They looked like living toys / Without a glance they marched on by, young girls on their mind / And I had a memory of another day in time... / [Flash back: sound-effect and spoken word dialogue of war] / So heart shown by you proud young men / You've every right to be / Your the price that will be paid / Your the price of victory / Somewhere our faceless foe will cut you down one day / And broken hearts will pray for you, remembering you this way / Precious names on a long black Wall, hear the muffled drums / The bugle call for a mothers son, daddy's girl... / My leg gets so little room down there, mostly when it rains / I remember a few old friends in that Wall, with all their names...

Notes

CSI 504-A (U-24032M), 45 RPM, stereo, ℗ 1989; "Long Black Wall" (Bob Belche'), 3:20, Process Music-BMI; producer Bob Belche'. Country Star International, P. O. Box 569, Franklin, PA. 16323. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall · PTSD · Vet · Military · Combat · Patriotic · Home Front Perspective

In collections

PTSD Songs · US Military & Veteran Songs · Veterans Memorial Wall Songs