Prisoner Of War

Annotation

The country music song "Prisoner of War" (Kingstar # 1001), performed by Norma Jean Carpenter & Bobby Adams - released in Nashville, Tennessee. Copyright held by Golden Imperial Songs, Hollywood, California. Although no other information is known about these two artists, you can see a picture of them on the record label. In the narration, Norma Jean Carpenter took the perspective of a soldier's wife: "my husband is a prisoner of war in North Vietnam". She waited many years for news of her husband and started to lose hope of him returning, so she prayed to god for help. Late at night she heard her husband's last word before he went to war, presumably narrated by Bobby Adams: "goodbye sweetheart...I'll be coming home...I'll write to you often". This song, thus, displayed the impact of the P.O.W. situation on the families back home.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: My husband is a prisoner of war in North Vietnam / I read the newspaper and I cried today / I tried to find the hope in what it had to say / Years have gone by since I received a telegram / My husband is a prisoner of war, in North Vietnam / For long long time I thought he was dead / I'll pray he'll come home, just like he said / I don't want to lose hope but loosing hope I am / My husband is a prisoner of war in North Vietnam / Last night the children had all gone to sleep / I just lay down thinking and started to weep / Then I heard his voice, it must have been a dream / But oh how real the dream did seem / I heard all he had to say on the day he went away / Goodbye sweetheart I love you, don't worry about me / I'll be coming home, just you wait and see / I'll write to you often, so why all those tears / I'll only be gone darling, just for a year / I woke up crying and started to pray, god give me your strength and help me each day / God I am trusting you, you know that I am / To bring home all the prisoners from North Vietnam

Notes

Kingstar Records Inc., Nashville, Tenn., 1001 A, stereo, pink-and-yellow label with a crown-and-star logo and photographs of the two singers ("Artist photo on record label"), printed and made in U.S.A.; "Prisoner of War" (Words and music by Bobby Sharp - Jo Ann Roth), Golden Imperial Songs Corp., ASCAP; © Copyright 1971 Golden Imperial Songs, Hollywood, Calif. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Soldier's Perspective · P.O.W.

In collections

US Domestic Perspective Songs [War Years] · P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs