Vietnam Cries U.S.A.

Annotation

A British ska anti-war song from 1966 called "Vietnam Cries U.S.A." (Halagala # HG 30) which pleaded with President Johnson to stop the war: "we don't want no war in this world Mr. Johnson...stop bombing Vietnam". Released on the rare, obscure British reggae label Halagala, formed by Terry Nelson in the 1960s - born in Guyana, he moved to London and wrote this song.12 Like J.B. Lenoir above, he particularly drew attention to the mistreatment of African-Americans: "you must set the Negroes free in the USA and we'll live by your laws and obey" - i.e. African-Americans answered the draft call, but they did not receive equal treatment in the US. The label released an instrumental version of this song, called "U.S.A. Out-Cry" (Halagala # HG 26), performed by what appears to be a house band of the label, called the Ram-Ram-Go-Go-Sound. Sources1stabroeknews.com: Hgp tv owner ‘halagala’ dies after heart attack↩2Halagala 7"s — catalogue listing (tapirs.home.xs4all.nl)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Draft Songs

A British ska anti-war song from 1966 called "Vietnam Cries U.S.A." (Halagala # HG 30) which pleaded with President Johnson to stop the war: "we don't want no war in this world Mr. Johnson...stop bombing Vietnam". Released on the rare, obscure British reggae label Halagala, formed by Terry Nelson in the 1960s - born in Guyana, he moved to London and wrote this song.12 Like J.B. Lenoir above, he particularly drew attention to the mistreatment of African-Americans: "you must set the Negroes free in the USA and we'll live by your laws and obey" - i.e. African-Americans answered the draft call, but they did not receive equal treatment in the US. The label released an instrumental version of this song, called U.S.A. Out-Cry (Halagala # HG 26), performed by what appears to be a house band of the label, called the Ram-Ram-Go-Go-Sound.Sources1stabroeknews.com: Hgp tv owner ‘halagala’ dies after heart attack↩2Halagala 7"s — catalogue listing (tapirs.home.xs4all.nl)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — European Songs

A British ska anti-war song from 1966 called "Vietnam Cries U.S.A." (Halagala # HG 30) which pleaded with President Johnson to stop the war: "we don't want no war in this world Mr. Johnson...stop bombing Vietnam". Released on the rare, obscure British reggae label Halagala, formed by Terry Nelson in the 1960s - born in Guyana, he moved to London and wrote this song.12 Like J.B. Lenoir above, he particularly drew attention to the mistreatment of African-Americans: "you must set the Negroes free in the USA and we'll live by your laws and obey" - i.e. African-American answered the draft call, but they did not receive equal treatment in the US. The label released an instrumental version of this song, called U.S.A. Out-Cry (Halagala # HG 26), performed by what appears to be a house band of the label, called the Ram-Ram-Go-Go-Sound.Sources1stabroeknews.com: Hgp tv owner ‘halagala’ dies after heart attack↩2Halagala 7"s — catalogue listing (tapirs.home.xs4all.nl)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Latin & Central American, & Caribbean Music

A British ska anti-war song from 1966 called "Vietnam Cries U.S.A." (Halagala # HG 30) which pleaded with President Johnson to stop the war: "we don't want no war in this world Mr. Johnson...stop bombing Vietnam". Released on the rare, obscure British reggae label Halagala, formed by Terry Nelson in the 1960s - born in Guyana, he moved to London and wrote this song.12 Like J.B. Lenoir above, he particularly drew attention to the mistreatment of African-Americans: "you must set the Negroes free in the USA and we'll live by your laws and obey" - i.e. African-American answered the draft call, but they did not receive equal treatment in the US. The label released an instrumental version of this song, called U.S.A. Out-Cry (Halagala # HG 26), performed by what appears to be a house band of the label, called the Ram-Ram-Go-Go-Sound. Sources1stabroeknews.com: Hgp tv owner ‘halagala’ dies after heart attack↩2Halagala 7"s — catalogue listing (tapirs.home.xs4all.nl)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: We don't want no war in this world Mr. Johnson / So lets stop all this war in Vietnam / You must set the Negroes free in the USA / And we'll live by your laws and obey / Mr. President, can you hear my plea / Mr. President, will you answer me... / Ah, Mr. Johnson can you hear me / Yes I'm apeaking to you from around the world / Yeah look man you have the ability to stop in Vietnam / I said look, you must stop all the negroes and set them free in United States of America / Yes the world want to be free / And I ask you now, to stop bombing Vietnam / Set the Negroes free

Notes

Halagala HG 30 AE, yellow and green label, 45 R.P.M., (P) 1966, "Copy-R.C."; "Vietnam Cries U.S.A." (Nel Fraser), credited to The Ram Ram Go-Go Biz. Man. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

"Vietnam Cries U.S.A." appeared on Halagala Records (HG 30 AE, 1966), the label that also issued the Guyanese act Ram-Ram-Go-Go-Sound (1967); the two acts share the same naming convention and mirror-image titles ("Vietnam Cries U.S.A." / "U.S.A. Out-Cry"), placing this record in the same Guyanese circle. [Source: Discogs]

Themes

Anti-War · LBJ · Civil Rights

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Draft Songs · European Songs · Latin & Central American, & Caribbean Music · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]