No Vietnam

Annotation

No Vietnam (Monteleone, Genovese, Drago) Pop rap. Post-war 90s. Hammond, Louisiana, USA. Saddam Hussein invasion of Kuwait, Desert Storm (1991). Bush intervention: "this will not be another Vietnam".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Rap / Hip Hop Songs

Unknown, obscure Pop Rap collaboration, credited to Monteleone, Genovese, Drago - from Hammond, Louisiana. Although no date on the record, the song "No Vietnam" was about the Saddam Hussein invasion of Kuwait in 1991, one of dozens of 90s songs inspired by the First Gulf War (1990-91), also referred to as Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, the names of US operations against Iraq, directed by the US president George H. W. Bush. The title came from a speech by Bush regarding the intervention, which is sampled in the song: "this will not be another Vietnam". The song argued for intervention to stop Saddam Hussein, arguing if not, it could lead to nuclear war: "Desert Storm had to be done, or Saudi Arabia would be the next one... we might all be under nuclear attack" - thus reviving the Vietnam-era domino theory. Taking a patriotic stance, it reassured those worried about a post-Vietnam intervention that: "this is not Da Nang in 1965".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Back in August on the brink of recession / Flipped on the radio, heard some aggression / Wouldn't you know it, it must have been fate / Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait / They were killed and raped, and burned and steal, and took foreign hostage as human shields / I knew right away, something had to be done / It was up to George Bush and the Pentagon / Up was were gas prices were headed / Dollar fifty-one, super unleaded / We thought an embargo would cool his endeavor / But he had supplies to last him forever / Enough was enough, then the deadline was set / January 15 came and went / But Saddam thought we'd never fought / The talk of body bags would chill our might / But our troops were eager and trained real well / And Schwarzkopf was ready to give them hell / Anytime, anyplace, anywhere, any day / They would get Saddam in every way / And Bush found American would never attack with one hand tied behind its back / Bush: 'This will not be another Vietnam' / 3 a.m. came and the light turned green and Bush sent in the F-15 / Iraq was alive... Saddam Hussein was under attack / The blasted... with tomahawks and B52s... / The bombing continued day and night / And soon we thought Saddam, well had no fight / But Saddam had a trick up his sleeve / He fired the scuds at Tel Aviv / Saddam was sure the scuds would hit / But Bush sent in the patriots / Although some debris got through, the patriots did what they were supposed to do / Now if Saddam wants to know were his missiles…

Notes

MGD Prod., P.O. Box 2453, Hammond, LA 70404, 504-345-8845; "No Vietnam" credited to Monteleone, Genovese and Drago on a red, white and blue banded label; "Recorded and Mixed at Bluff Road Studio". No catalogue number, writers or time printed. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

First Gulf War · Iraq · George H. Bush · Da Nang · Atomic · K.I.A. · Saddam Hussein · Israel · Pentagon · Vietnam Analogy

In collections

Rap / Hip Hop Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years] · Vietnam as Comparison