Seven Lonely Years

Annotation

Jerry Hayes, born 10 October 1947 in Columbia, Tennessee, moved to Dallas, Texas with his parents where he attended school. The back of the LP (Toro Records # TAS-501) said that he then "joined the marines at the age of 19. He left San Diego Harbor January 7 of 1967 for duty on Okinawa and then to combat where he landed at DaNang in Viet Nam and served with the 3rd Marine Amphibious Force. He returned to the states after the Tet Offensive in 1968 and went back to his country heritage in Tennessee seeking a career in music. Was discovered in Dallas latter as a remarkable talent for writing songs. His words tell a revealing story in Back in Nam". Thus, this collection of songs provided a veterans perspective on the war in the post-war period. In the 1990s he visited schools talking about his experiences in Vietnam and playing his songs.1 There is no date on the record, but the songs were registered for copyright between 1973 and 1975, and the record was probably released shortly after that, recorded at the Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios, Dallas, Texas.2 He re-recorded the songs in 1993 with his group "In Country" for a cassette called "Thanks to Them".3 Key themes found within the album: patriotism, support for the veterans, draft card burning and draft dodgers, the fighting conditions in Vietnam, and drug use in Vietnam. Two of the songs looked at P.O.W. / M.I.A. issue. The first song "Seven Lonely Years", narrated in the third person, described a soldier in a "prison camp in Vietnam". He felt loneliness and desired to see his family and friends again. It concluded with the news that the P.O.W.s would be returning home to the USA. Also note: Sources1Google News Archive↩2Internet Archive↩3Google News Archive↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

- Ballad of Barney

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Draft Songs

Jerry Hayes, born 10 October 1947 in Columbia, Tennessee, moved to Dallas, Texas with his parents where he attended school. The back of the LP (Toro Records # TAS-501) said that he then "joined the marines at the age of 19. He left San Diego Harbor January 7 of 1967 for duty on Okinawa and then to combat where he landed at DaNang in Viet Nam and served with the 3rd Marine Amphibious Force. He returned to the states after the Tet Offensive in 1968 and went back to his country heritage in Tennessee seeking a career in music. Was discovered in Dallas latter as a remarkable talent for writing songs. His words tell a revealing story in Back in Nam". Thus, this collection of songs provided a veterans perspective on the war in the post-war period. In the 1990s he visited schools talking about his experiences in Vietnam and playing his songs.1 There is no date on the record, but the songs were registered for copyright between 1973 and 1975, and the record was probably released shortly after that, recorded at the Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios, Dallas, Texas.2 He re-recorded the songs in 1993 with his group "In Country" for a cassette called "Thanks to Them".3 Key themes found within the album: patriotism, support for the veterans, draft card burning and draft dodgers, the fighting conditions in Vietnam, and drug use in Vietnam.Sources1Google News Archive↩2Internet Archive↩3Google News Archive↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs

Jerry Hayes, born 10 October 1947 in Columbia, Tennessee, moved to Dallas, Texas with his parents where he attended school. The back of the LP (Toro Records # TAS-501) said that he then "joined the marines at the age of 19. He left San Diego Harbor January 7 of 1967 for duty on Okinawa and then to combat where he landed at DaNang in Viet Nam and served with the 3rd Marine Amphibious Force. He returned to the states after the Tet Offensive in 1968 and went back to his country heritage in Tennessee seeking a career in music. Was discovered in Dallas latter as a remarkable talent for writing songs. His words tell a revealing story in Back in Nam". Thus, this collection of songs provided a veterans perspective on the war in the post-war period. In the 1990s he visited schools talking about his experiences in Vietnam and playing his songs.1 There is no date on the record, but the songs were registered for copyright between 1973 and 1975, and the record was probably released shortly after that, recorded at the Sumet-Bernet Sound Studios, Dallas, Texas.2 He re-recorded the songs in 1993 with his group "In Country" for a cassette called "Thanks to Them".3 Key themes found within the album: patriotism, support for the veterans, draft card burning and draft dodgers, the fighting conditions in Vietnam, and drug use in Vietnam. Two of the songs looked at P.O.W. / M.I.A. issue. The first song "Seven Lonely Years", narrated in the third person, described a soldier in a "prison camp in Vietnam". He felt loneliness and desired to see his family and friends again. It concluded with the news that the P.O.W.s would be returning home to the USA.Sources1Google News Archive↩2Internet Archive↩3Google News Archive↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: A long way from home, he sits all alone and sits his weary head upon his knees / He thinks of mum and dad and all the friends he had and wonders if he'll see them all again / There's the child he's not seen / Do you know what this means to a lonely homesick man so far away / And the beauty of his wife is the joy of his life / How hard it must be for her to wait / It's been seven lonely years, he's run out of tears / Hope is the pnly thing that's kept him sane / Is it true what they say, the news that came today, is he really going to be free at last / He prays it's not dream, this time it really means he'll leave / This prison camp in Vietnam, yes he's walking out that door / He'll see hungry no more, and he prays to god this war is done It happened high over Hanoi town, a routine flight they shot me down / I was doing fine until my plane hit the ground / In VC country was where I was found / A wound in my leg, a horrible thing, it was all I could do to bear the pain / With thoughts of home from this far away place kept creeping through my mind / A hard thing to face / I'm going home in three more days, to my wife and kids is where I'll stay / I've been too long in this one place / Ever since I was M.I.A. / The folks don't know if I'm alive or dead / In a dirty hole they kept me barely fed / Seven years is a long long time to be without friends of any kind... / I am so glad I got the news before I think I'd payed the dues / A wanted man is what I want to be, in the…

Notes

Toro Records, stereo; no catalogue number printed on the sleeve. The front shows Jerry Hayes in a suit seated on a stool with an acoustic guitar, with the slogans "A Must In Your Collection", "'A Sure Hit' by Jerry Hayes – Words and Music", "Featuring Ballad of Barney" and "Toro Records brings this bright new star to you with vivid memories", and "Enjoy the instrumentals of Smokey Montgomery, Freddie Crane, Phil Baugh, Junior Graham, Dale Cook"; this copy carries a handwritten signature on the front. Back credits: Marvin "Smokey" Montgomery, arrangements; Freddie Crane, piano; Phil Baugh, guitar; Junior Graham, bass; Dale Cook, drums, each with a short biography. Side 1: Thoughts of Home 2:18, I Can Still Remember 3:45, One Last Memory 2:13, I Praise the Vet 2:15, Diary of Private Jones 3:40; Side 2: Thanks to Them 2:33, Wanted Man 3:20, Johnny's Going Home 2:21, Seven Lonely Years…

About the artist

Hayes from Columbia, Tennessee

Themes

Vet · Military · Patriotic · P.O.W. · M.I.A.

In collections

P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs · US Military & Veteran Songs · Civil Rights Songs · Draft Songs