Postmarked Home

Annotation

Double-side Vietnam War record, released in 1967 (Kaylsodak Recording Company # Klsd 0003/0004), in Mitchell, South Dakota, USA, in the garage rock genre, with Mexican trumpets. The songs are composed by T. J. Magera. An article from The Daily Republic, Mitchell, South Dakota, on 29 July 1967, read: "the many faceted talents of Magera vastly transcend sales. They include composing and recording (Magera cuts his own discs on the "Kaylsodak Recording Company" label in partnership with Jan Grosz)... He's a gifted trumpet player and, as a composer, created such hopefuls as "The Ballad of John Kennedy," "The Eternal Light"...."Postmarked Home", and "The Wrong Side of Saigon"... Tom has his own band, not surprisingly named the "Versatones"."1 Both sides of this single are Vietnam War-related, narrated from the soldier's perspective. In the song "Postmarked Home", the soldier described mail call - a reference to military personnel assembling for the distribution of mail - he received a letter and recalled home and his sweetheart. He said that he needed to "kill some more to make these people free", a small patriotic / pro-government message. In the song "Wrong Side of Saigon", also narrated from the soldier's perspective, the protagonist revealed that his sweetheart had left him: "shattered all my dreams". He expressed his sadness at being along in Saigon.Also featured in: • Vietnam War: Mexican-American Songs • Vietnam War: Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs Sources1Newspapers.com↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Garage Rock Songs

- "Postmarked Home" (Doc and The Medics) - "Wrong Side of Saigon" (Doc and The Medics) - Garage rock, Mexican trumpets (Mexican-American artist??)

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs

Double-side Vietnam War record, released in 1967 (Kaylsodak Recording Company # Klsd 0003/0004), in Mitchell, South Dakota, USA, in the garage rock genre, with Mexican trumpets. The songs are composed by T. J. Magera. An article from The Daily Republic, Mitchell, South Dakota, on 29 July 1967, read: "the many faceted talents of Magera vastly transcend sales. They include composing and recording (Magera cuts his own discs on the "Kaylsodak Recording Company" label in partnership with Jan Grosz)... He's a gifted trumpet player and, as a composer, created such hopefuls as "The Ballad of John Kennedy," "The Eternal Light"...."Postmarked Home", and "The Wrong Side of Saigon"... Tom has his own band, not surprisingly named the "Versatones"".1 Both sides of this single are Vietnam War-related, narrated from the soldier's perspective. In the song "Postmarked Home", the soldier described mail call - a reference to military personnel assembling for the distribution of mail - he received a letter and recalled home and his sweetheart. He said that he needed to "kill some more to make these people free", a small patriotic / pro-government message. In the song "Wrong Side of Saigon", also narrated from the soldier's perspective, the protagonist revealed that his sweetheart had left him: "shattered all my dreams". He expressed his sadness at being along in Saigon.Sources1Newspapers.com↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs

Double-side Vietnam War record, released in 1967 (Kaylsodak Recording Company # Klsd 0003/0004), in Mitchell, South Dakota, USA, in the garage rock genre, with Mexican trumpets. The songs are composed by T. J. Magera. An article from The Daily Republic, Mitchell, South Dakota, on 29 July 1967, read: "the many faceted talents of Magera vastly transcend sales. They include composing and recording (Magera cuts his own discs on the "Kaylsodak Recording Company" label in partnership with Jan Grosz)... He's a gifted trumpet player and, as a composer, created such hopefuls as "The Ballad of John Kennedy," "The Eternal Light"...."Postmarked Home", and "The Wrong Side of Saigon"... Tom has his own band, not surprisingly named the "Versatones"."1 Both sides of this single are Vietnam War-related, narrated from the soldier's perspective. In the song "Postmarked Home", the soldier described mail call - a reference to military personnel assembling for the distribution of mail - he received a letter and recalled home and his sweetheart. He said that he needed to "kill some more to make these people free", a small patriotic / pro-government message.In the song "Wrong Side of Saigon", also narrated from the soldier's perspective, the protagonist revealed that his sweetheart had left him: "shattered all my dreams". He expressed his sadness at being along in Saigon.Sources1Newspapers.com↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: The battle was won, now it's the mail call / And our day is done, hopefully my name... / There is a letter for me and it's postmarked home / As I started to read I remembered my home, school, prom night, graduation ball / There in my arms all our love we knew / She said she would wait for me and always would be true / I hated to leave then, I feared for our love / Things could go wrong but with help from above / I'll soon be home, she'll waiting there for me / I've got to wait and kill some more to make these people free / Bravely we fight, and we've got 'em on the run / Fighting and killing until this war is done, far across the sea... / There's a letter for me, and it's postmarked home She said she'd always wait for me, but I was yoo long at sea / She buzzed around just like a bee / And now she shattered all my dreams / For a while I felt so blue, but I want to find a way.... / And bring her home with me someday / I thought at last I found my true love and at last my heartache is gone / But I found out how much I was wrong / From the wrong side of Saigon / I thought she cared a lot for me, that's why it's hard to tell a lie / She asked tomorrow were we'll be and then my buddies had to die / Well I saw right through her scheme / And though there is nothing more lonely than a man and his dream / I strung her along fellows and played her little game / Nothing worse than a spy boys, especially a dame

Notes

Kaylsodak Recording Company, Mitchell, S.D., Klsd 0003 (18467), 45 RPM, pink label; "Postmarked Home" (T. J. Magera), 3:00, Kaylsodak Publishing, Mitchell, S.D. The sleeve is a reproduced handwritten letter headed "Somewhere in Viet Nam - Dear Friends", overprinted "Postmarked Home", that sets out the song's lyrics and closes: "We had a new band entertaining the boys, they're called 'Doc and The Medics' and they record on the 'Kaylsodak' Label"; © 1967 T. J. Magera. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Soldier's Perspective · Mail Call · Draft · Patriotic

In collections

Draft Songs · Garage Rock Songs · Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]