Lieutenant (Had Any Lately?)

Annotation

The soulful track "Lieutenant (Had Any Lately?)" (Stang Records # ST-5027), out of New Jersey, took an anti-war line and condemned Calley - one of the few to do so. This record is performed by Sylvia Robinson. A year earlier she released the single "Have You Had Any Lately" (Stang # 5015) - the same melody and with almost identical lyrics, without the Calley references, written by Robinson. (1) Robinson did in fact have three children. (2) The song later appeared on the 1973 album Pillow Talk (Vibration Records # VI-126). The structure of the verses, formed by repeating questions ('how long' and 'how many') took a similarly effective approach to Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" - the narrator wanted to know "how many children did you kill" and "how much...of their blood did you spill". She declared that Calley's actions made him "inhuman" and "not fit for society", thus taking a strong moral position, in opposition to the war and the indiscriminate killings by a soldier despite orders.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation

Broadway musical from 1974, only lasted 7 days on the stage. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

About the artist

Sylvia Robinson (born Sylvia Vanterpool, 29 May 1935 in Manhattan, New York City; died 29 September 2011 at Meadowlands Hospital, Secaucus, New Jersey, aged 76) was an American singer, songwriter, producer and label owner who recorded as 'Little Sylvia' from 1950, formed half of Mickey & Sylvia, whose 'Love Is Strange' topped the R&B chart in 1957, and sang the 1973 million-seller 'Pillow Talk'. With her husband Joe Robinson she founded All Platinum Records at Englewood, New Jersey in 1967 and ran its subsidiary imprints, among them Stang, Vibration and Gambi Music, before founding Sugar Hill…

Themes

My Lai · Anti-War · Anti-Calley

In collections

My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs