Saigon Bride

Annotation

Joan Baez also played an active and important role in the 1960s/70s protest and civil rights movement. She was born on Staten Island, New York, on 9 January 1941. Her father was born in Puebla, Mexico, and she has spoken of identifying with the Mexican-American community.1 Baez frequently playing at rallies and meetings, including Martin Luther King's March on Washington in 1963 and the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam on 15 October 1969. In 1972 Baez traveled to North Vietnam during Nixon's controversial "Christmas Bombings" on Hanoi and Haiphong (official named Operation Linebacker II).2 Baez produced an album about that trip, released in 1973, called Where Are You Now, My Son? (A&M Records # SP-4390). She also joined in other forms of protest, such as the Draft Resistance, an organisation run by her then husband David Harris. Together they released a film about his imprisonment for draft evasion in 1970 called Carry It On. The soundtrack included spoken-word extracts discussing the draft, and Baez performing live across the country (Carry It On, Vanguard Records # VSD-79313). From 1964, Baez refused to pay 60% of her taxes, which she claimed went towards armaments, and the Vietnam War.3. The country singer Bill Anderson attacked Baez for this in the song Where Have All Our Heroes Gone. In 1967 Baez reflected on the war in the track "Saigon Bride" (Vanguard Records # VSD-79240), co-written with Nina Dusheck, and arranged by Peter Schickele. Baez narrated the song from the perspective of soldier, heading out to war, saying goodbye to his Vietnamese wife. Rather than a hard-hitting, political anti-war song, the gentle poetic ballad took a more emotional and personal approach to display opposition to the conflict, posing the questions: "how many dead men will it take... how many children must we kill"? Gábor Szabó released a cover of the song in the same year: Saigon Bride (Impulse! # 45-268).Sources1Time: Joan baez 75 discrimination↩2The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War (David L. Anderson, 2002)↩3The New York Times↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs

Joan Baez also played an active and important role in the 1960s/70s protest and civil rights movement. She was born on Staten Island, New York, on 9 January 1941. Her father was born in Puebla, Mexico, and she has spoken of identifying with the Mexican-American community.1 Baez frequently playing at rallies and meetings, including Martin Luther King's March on Washington in 1963 and the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam on 15 October 1969. In 1972 Baez traveled to North Vietnam during Nixon's controversial "Christmas Bombings" on Hanoi and Haiphong (official named Operation Linebacker II).2 Baez produced an album about that trip, released in 1973, called Where Are You Now, My Son? (A&M Records # SP-4390). She also joined in other forms of protest, such as the Draft Resistance, an organisation run by her then husband David Harris. Together they released a film about his imprisonment for draft evasion in 1970 called Carry It On. The soundtrack included spoken-word extracts discussing the draft, and Baez performing live across the country (Carry It On, Vanguard Records # VSD-79313). From 1964, Baez refused to pay 60% of her taxes, which she claimed went towards armaments, and the Vietnam War.3. The country singer Bill Anderson attacked Baez for this in the song Where Have All Our Heroes Gone. In 1967 Baez reflected on the war in the track "Saigon Bride" (Vanguard Records # VSD-79240), co-written with Nina Dusheck, and arranged by Peter Schickele. Baez narrated the song from the perspective of soldier, heading out to war, saying goodbye to his Vietnamese wife. Rather than a hard-hitting, political anti-war song, the gentle poetic ballad took a more emotional and personal approach to display opposition to the conflict. Gábor Szabó released a cover of the song in the same year: Saigon Bride (Impulse! # 45-268). Sources1Time: Joan baez 75 discrimination↩2The Columbia Guide to the Vietnam War (David L. Anderson, 2002)↩3The New York Times↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Farewell, my wistful Saigon bride / I'm going out to stem the tide / A tide that never saw the seas / It flows through jungles, 'round the trees / Some say it's yellow, some say red / It will not matter when we're dead / How many dead men will it take / To build a dike that will not break? / How many children must we kill / Before we make the waves stand still? / Though miracles come high today / We have the wherewithal to pay / It takes them off the streets, you know / To places they would never go alone / It gives them useful trades / The lucky boys are even paid / Men die to build their Pharaoh's tombs / And still, and still the teeming wombs / How many men to conquer Mars? / How many dead to reach the stars? / Farewell, my wistful Saigon bride / I'm going out to stem the tide / A tide that never saw the seas / It flows through jungles, 'round the trees / Some say it's yellow, some say red / It will not matter when we're dead Farewell my wistful Saigon bride / I'm going out to stem the tide / A tide that never saw the seas / It flows through jungles, round the trees / Some say it's yellow, some say red / It will not matter when we're dead

About the artist

Born 9 January 1941, Staten Island, New York, USA. Currently Woodside, California, USA

Themes

Anti-War · Soldier's Perspective

In collections

Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]