The Long Black Wall (Tribute to the Vets of Vietnam)

Annotation

The song "The Long Black Wall (Tribute to the Vets of Vietnam)" (Sollie Sunshine Recordings # FES-88-21), is a country track by Lamar, Indiana, USA artist Ray R. Jones, who claims to have performed for LBJ!1 Released on a Pensacola, Florida record label. This was a post-war 80s patriotic tribute to veterans. It started with a spoken-word intro: "this song is a tribute to every American soldier, sailor, airman, and marine, who fought the long hard struggle of the Vietnam War, and for all those who died in the name of our country, whose names are enshrined forever in Washington D.C. on a long black Wall". It told the story of the narrator going to D.C. to see the wall with people he served with in the Vietnam War. He said that the Wall was there to remind everyone of the "vets of Vietnam" and of course those that died. Moreover, the monument does not "try to glorify". The protagonist reflected on "what's right and wrong", as soldiers in combat "watch a comrade fall". Composed by Ray R. Jones and Fred E. Sollie. Recorded at Sound Quest Studio, Lamar, Indiana.Sources145cat↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Veterans Memorial Wall Songs

The song "The Long Black Wall (Tribute to the Vets of Vietnam)" (Sollie Sunshine Recordings # FES-88-21), is a country track by Lamar, Indiana, USA artist Ray R. Jones, who claims to have performed for LBJ!1 Released on a Pensacola, Florida record label. This was a post-war 80s patriotic tribute to veterans. It started with a spoken-word intro: "this song is a tribute to every American soldier, sailor, airman, and marine, who fought the long hard struggle of the Vietnam War, and for all those who died in the name of our country, whose names are enshrined forever in Washington D.C. on a long black Wall". It told the story of the narrator going to D.C. to see the wall with people he served with in the Vietnam War. He said that the Wall was there to remind everyone of the "vets of Vietnam" and of course those that died. Moreover, the monument does not "try to glorify". The protagonist reflected on "what's right and wrong", as soldiers in combat "watch a comrade fall". Composed by Ray R. Jones and Fred E. Sollie. Recorded at Sound Quest Studio, Lamar, Indiana. Sources145cat↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I went down to the long black Wall in Washington D.C. / With an old vet of the Vietnam War who served out there with me / And all the hardships of that war we did remember, at the long black Wall... / We read the names of servicemen engraved on the shiny Wall / And in our hearts we felt the pain knowing bravely they did fall / We remembered vividly how they answered their country's call / They will shine forever on the long black Wall / This monument stands to remind us all the vets of Vietnam / But it don't try to glorify those that didn't give a damn / Standing stone to testify the gallantry of them all / On the long black Wall, the long black Wall / All wars are hell, especially for those who had to fight / Who faced the hardened enemy in the steamy jungle night / It's hard to tell what's right and wrong as you watch a comrade fall / They will live forever on the long black wall / We read the names in silence, tonight we begin to fall / Then we turned an walked away with other veteran I recall / It was my first time in Washington, just a short place from the Mall / At the long black Wall, at the long black Wall / This monument stands to remind us all the vets of Vietnam / But it don't try to glorify those that didn't give a damn...

Notes

Sollie Sunshine Recordings FES-88-21 (U-22473M), A Side, stereo, ©℗ 1988, yellow label; "The Long Black Wall" (Tribute to the Vets of Vietnam) (Fred E. Sollie, Ray R. Jones BMI), 3:50, Cindy Jane Music (BMI); producer Ray Richard Jones, Sound Quest Studio, Lamar, Indiana 47550. "Distributed by Sollie Sunshine Records, 4724 Lillian Hwy. Pensacola, FL 32506". [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Recorded in Lamar, Indiana

Themes

Patriotic · Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall · Vet

In collections

Veterans Memorial Wall Songs