Credited on the record as Flora Molton accompanied by Ed Morris.
The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam
Molton 2 · Washington D.C., Washington D.C.
- Artist
- Flora Molton
- Credited on the record as
- Flora Molton accompanied by Ed Morris
- Title
- The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam
- Release
- The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam / I Heard It Through the True Vine
- Label
- Molton # 2
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Washington D.C., Washington D.C., USA
- Songwriter
- Flora Molton
- Genre
- Blues · Country Blues
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
Flora Molton, born in Louisa County, Virginia in 1908, started out as a gospel singer, as well as preaching (following in the footsteps of her father). Partly blind from birth, she moved to Washington D.C. in the 1930s, switching to guitar in 1943. She spent most of the 1940s and 1950s playing country blues on street corners in D.C. Molton used an "Open D" ("Vastepol") tuning, and thus a basic guitar style, serving mainly as a background to her vocals. She used a metal ring, sliding it across the strings, to create a moaning sound. In the 1960s blues and folk revival Molton started to appear in coffee house, clubs, and festivals, and cut a couple 45s on her own label.1 Released in the early 1970s, the song "The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam" (Molton's Records # 0002) took an anti-war stance. Molton looked to the future, when the war would be over. But criticised the politicians for failing to bring peace, claiming that "the devil likes this condition". It contained other religious references, such as "thou shall not kill" and that the "lord he is not pleased". Interestingly, the lyrics also made a social-economic point, saying that the "blood spilled by the poor" was unfair, while the "rich man make the profit".Sources1Wirz discographies↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Blues songs
Flora Molton, born in Louisa County, Virginia in 1908, started out as a gospel singer, as well as preaching (following in the footsteps of her father). Partly blind from birth, she moved to Washington D.C. in the 1930s, switching to guitar in 1943. She spent most of the 1940s and 1950s playing country blues on street corners in D.C. Molton used an "Open D" ("Vastepol") tuning, and thus a basic guitar style, serving mainly as a background to her vocals. She used a metal ring, sliding it across the strings, to create a moaning sound. In the 1960s blues and folk revival Molton started to appear in coffee house, clubs, and festivals, and cut a couple 45s on her own label.1 Released in the early 1970s, the song "The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam" (Molton's Records # 0002) took an anti-war stance. Molton looked to the future, when the war would be over. But criticised the politicians for failing to bring peace, claiming that "the devil likes this condition". It contained other religious references, such as "thou shall not kill" and that the "lord he is not pleased". Interestingly, the lyrics also made a social-economic point, saying that the "blood spilled by the poor" was unfair, while the "rich man make the profit". Sources1Wirz discographies↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: The sun gonna shine in Vietnam one day / The fighting will be over and the ? rolled away / The mighty politician says to be offering peace / You know the devil likes this condition and the lord he is not pleased / The sun gonna shine in Vietnam one day... / God sent us a prophet, he had these words to say / Thou shall not kill the mothers and the same is true today... / Rich man make the profit, the blood spilled by the poor / If the rich man would live by the word of god he would end this bloody war... / In Vietnam one day
Notes
Molton's Record, Record No. 0002, 463 Neal Street, NW, Wash. D.C.; "The Sun Will Shine in Vietnam" by Flora Molton accompanied by Ed Morris, 2:27, Lomton Music, BMI; "A Molton Production", produced by Kemp Brown. [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
Flora Molton (born 12 March 1908 in Louisa County, Virginia; died 31 May 1990 in Washington, D.C.) was a gospel-blues street singer and slide guitarist who performed on the streets of Washington, D.C. from 1942 until shortly before her death, recording for L+R, Lively Stone and Ocora; her anti-war song was first titled "Sun's Gonna Shine in Vietnam Someday". [Source: Wikipedia]