Napalm Blues

Annotation

Badger King, born Michael Lynn Coelho on 3 January 194 in Fresno, California, USA, and died 12 April 1987.12 A contemporary folk artist, who participated in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the 60s, released the blues style song "Napalm Blues" about chemical weapon Napalm B - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973.123 It lyrics contain a graphic description of its devastating impact: "it's a gasoline jelly, burn your arms and your legs, and your back and your belly". It compares the use of napalm to Hitler's use of gas during World War Two: "well Hitler had the gas, US has the bomb". The narrator called for an end to the war: "all you people fighting... lay down your guns".Sources1RTP Açores: Hard Road to Freedom — Badger Stone (1/4)↩2Art Coelho (official website)↩3Napalm, An American Biography (book website)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Blues songs

Badger King, born Michael Lynn Coelho on 3 January 194 in Fresno, California, USA, and died 12 April 1987.12 A contemporary folk artist, who participated in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in the 60s, released the blues style song "Napalm Blues" about chemical weapon Napalm B - a jellied gasoline mixture, with polystyrene, benzene, and gasoline. Declared a war-crime since 1980, the US government extensively used this weapon during the Vietnam conflict, dropping 388,000 tons on Indochina between 1963 and 1973.123 It lyrics contain a graphic description of its devastating impact: "it's a gasoline jelly, burn your arms and your legs, and your back and your belly". It compares the use of napalm to Hitler's use of gas during World War Two: "well Hitler had the gas, US has the bomb". The narrator called for an end to the war: "all you people fighting... lay down your guns". Sources1RTP Açores: Hard Road to Freedom — Badger Stone (1/4)↩2Art Coelho (official website)↩3Napalm, An American Biography (book website)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Well the Vietnamese people ain't got no shoes / All they got is napalm blues / Well you heard about napalm / It's a gasoline jelly / Burn your arms and your legs / And your back and your belly / Well the US airplane drops it all on the ground / Until the woman and children burn.., / Every time I think about it / I feel mighty lost / If the bombs keep coming the whole world is gonna go / Well Hitler had the gas / US has the bomb / End this war but they fight on and on and on / So all you people fighting in this war / Won't you lay down your guns and fight no more / Well the Vietnamese people ain't got no shoes / All they got is napalm blues

Notes

Union of Man, 45 RPM; "Napalm Blues" (B. King), time 1:45. Plain yellow label with no catalogue number or publisher printed. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

Born 3 January 3, Fresno, California, USA. Died 12 April 1987. Birth name Michael Lynn Coelho.

Themes

Anti-War · Napalm · Hitler

In collections

Blues songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]