Pinkville Helicopter
1970 · Broadside FW05312 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Tom Parrott
- Title
- Pinkville Helicopter
- Release
- Broadside Ballads Vol. 5: Time Is Running Out
- Year
- 1970
- Label
- Broadside # FW05312
- Format
- LP · Compilation
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Songwriter
- Tom Parrott
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Folk
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
Also by Tom Parrott (this time recorded), the song "Pinkville Helicopter" (Broadside Records # BRS 312), first appeared on the front cover of Broadside # 105, February-March 1970. Pinkville refered to the US army codeword for the hamlet My Lai, considered to be a Viet Cong stronghold. The song took an anti-war position, and strongly criticised the soldiers involved, describing them as a "pack of mad dogs, just killing to see people dying". He noted that the Lieutenant's gun (a reference to William Calley) was "smoky and hot from the killing". The narrator also praised the efforts of a helicopter pilot that rescued wounded villagers, a reference to Hugh Thompson, Jr., who tried to stop the My Lai Massacre. (2) John Maciewicz on second guitar and harmonica.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs
Tom Parrott, born in Washington D.C., USA, in 1944, a prominent member of the contemporary folk scene in the 1960s, wrote many political songs addressing the Vietnam War, such as the song "The Freedoms We've Been Fighting For" (1967), the song "Hole in the Ground" (1968), and two songs about the My Lai massacre: "The Massacres of My Lai (Song My) and Truong An" (1969) and "Pinkville Helicopter" (1971). He frequently appeared in Broadside, with eleven songs published. (1) This was a mimeographed publication founded in 1962 by Sis Cunningham and Gordon Friesen, that promoted contemporary folk and protest songs. It also had a music label: Broadside Records. It usually published both lyrics and notations of songs, as well as articles and interviews about folk music, and newspaper clippings of current events. While many of the songs would have been played at the folk clubs and festivals, not all of them were recorded.The song "Pinkville Helicopter" (Broadside Records # BRS 312), first appeared on the front cover of Broadside # 105, February-March 1970. Pinkville refered to the US army codeword for the hamlet My Lai, considered to be a Viet Cong stronghold. The song took an anti-war…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Born 1944, Washington, DC, USA.
Themes
In collections
My Lai & Lt. William Calley Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs