A Teenage Son's Open Letter to His Father

Annotation

The song "A Teenage Son's Open Letter to His Father" (Date # 2-1610) by Robert Tamkin, another response to Lundberg. This one started with the interesting scenario of the teenage boy being locked in prison, as a result of burning his drat card. However, it soon slipped into a father-son relationship story, about how both sides lacked understanding of each other

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Draft Songs

The song "A Teenage Son's Open Letter to His Father" (Date # 2-1610) by Robert Tamkin, another response to Lundberg. This one started with the interesting scenario of the teenage boy being locked in prison, as a result of burning his drat card. However, it soon slipped into a father-son relationship story, about how both sides lacked understanding of each other:

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Dear dad, the guard bought me a letter today / The guards treat us pretty well in jail here / Once in a while one of them calls us coward and communists for burning our draft cards / I'm frightened dad, I feel so alone, empty inside When I read your letter, about what you said, if I burned my draft card, I should burn my birth certificate too, because I'd no longer be your son. When I read that dad, I cried and cried. What's happened to us dad. You and I were never close. When I was a boy, it seems you were always away working. And when you were home you were usually too busy to have much to do with me. The only time I remember that you really cared for me was that time I got lost in the woods at the back of house. Remember, I was seven years old, you came looking for me, and you found me sitting under that big pine tree, scared and sobbing. I still remember the look of relief on your face when you saw me. You came up to me and there were tears in your eyes. You picked me and held me tight against you and took me home. I feel lost now dad. What's happened to us? We just haven't been able to talk to each pother. The older I got, the more you and I ended up arguing when we did try to talk. I always felt that you wanted me to do things your way. But you never understand me, what I wanted. Whenever we disagreed about anything, you would always tell me I know more about these things than you do, and you usually did. But it was the way you would cut me off with these…

Notes

Date 2-1610, 45 RPM, matrix JZSP 137291, "Radio Station Copy", "Suggested Side"; "A Teenage Son's Open Letter to His Father" (Rev. B. Alberts, PhD), 3:45, publisher Parsay Pub. Co. (BMI); Robert Tamkin; "Produced by Rev. Bill Alberts, PhD"; Made in U.S.A. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Anti-War · Draft · Answer to Open Letter

In collections

Lundberg's "An Open Letter" & Answer Songs · Draft Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]