Thoughts on Vietnam
Cartwheel [Fruitland Park] 7475 · Gainesville, Georgia
- Artist
- T.W. Cartwright
- Title
- Thoughts on Vietnam
- Release
- Thoughts on Vietnam / The Golden Book
- Label
- Cartwheel [Fruitland Park] # 7475
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Gainesville, Georgia, USA
- Songwriter
- Cartwright
- Genre
- Country · Country
- Primary theme
- Peace, Protest & Anti-War
Annotation
The country song "Thoughts on Vietnam" (Cartwheel # 664) questioned the point of foreign intervention and the logic behind the Domino Theory - that the collapse of South Vietnam into the control of the communist north would trigger the collapse of democracy in other countries and threaten the US - the idea of which came from President Eisenhower, during a press conferences on 7 April 1954.1 He said the the first president of the US George Washington had warned about the US getting involved in foreign conflicts, concluding that that "domino theory does not fully convince me". This is a rare example of an anti-Vietnam War song in the country music genre, which traditional leaned towards the pro-government side of the spectrum, although it's isolationist position was also a popular trend in the Conservative movement. Sources1The American Presidency Project: The President’s News Conference, 7 April 1954↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: George Washington once said as America he led / Do not become embroiled on foreign shores / But some how those plans have slipped and things have changed a bit / Our young men are dead on those foreign shores.... / That domino theory does not fully convince me / That our freedom here depends on Vietnam.... / I wish someone would tell why we are on this road to hell / If you really know tell them in Vietnam
Notes
Cartwheel, Fruitland Park, Fla., T4KM-7475 / 664P-7475; "Thoughts on Vietnam" (Cartwright). No time or publisher printed. [From the record sleeve and labels]