Travelin' Soldier
2002 · Columbia CSK59461 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Dixie Chicks
- Title
- Travelin' Soldier
- Release
- Travelin' Soldier
- Year
- 2002
- Label
- Columbia # CSK59461
- Format
- CD · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Genre
- Country · Contemporary Country
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Country pop group, formed in in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, USA, and currently based in Austin, Texas, USA. Members included Martie Maguire (fiddle, mandolin, violin, viola, vocals), Emily Robison (banjo, bass, Dobro, guitar, lap steel, accordion, vocals), Laura Lynch (vocals, bass, 1989-95), Robin Macy (vocals, guitar, 1989-92), and Natalie Maines (vocals, guitar, bass, 1995-present). The song "Travelin' Soldier", written and released by Bruce Robinson in 1996, and covered here by the Dixie Chicks in 2002, which reached #1 in the US country charts. The song, set during the Vietnam War, told a love story between an American soldier in Vietnam and a high school girl: "so the letters came from an army camp, in California then Vietnam". The lead singer of the group Natalie Maines told an audience in 2003 that the band was ashamed that George W. Bush was from Texas, in opposition to his role in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led to the song being banned on many US radio stations.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Two days past eighteen / He was waiting for the bus in his army green / Sat down in a booth in a café there / Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair / He's a little shy so she give him a smile / And he said, "Would you mind sittin' down for a while / And talking to me? / I'm feeling a little low" / She said, "I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go" / So they went down and they sat on the pier / He said, "I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care / I got no one to send a letter to / Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?" / I cried / Never gonna hold the hand of another guy / Too young for him they told her / Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier / Our love will never end / Waitin' for the soldier to come back again / Never more to be alone when the letter said / A soldier's coming home / So the letters came from an army camp / In California then Vietnam / And he told her of his heart / It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of / He said, "When it's getting kinda rough over here / I think of that day sittin' down at the pier / And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile / Don't worry, but I won't be able to write for awhile... / One Friday night at a football game / The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang / A man said, "Folks would you bow your heads / For a list of local Vietnam dead" / Crying all alone under the stands / Was a piccolo player in the marching band / And one name read but nobody really cared / But a…
About the artist
American country trio formed 1989 in Dallas, Texas ('Travelin' Soldier'). [Source: Wikipedia]