Where Do We Go from Here (America)

Annotation

The track "Where Do We Go From Here" (Soultown Records # P-103) put forward a strong critique of the US, with a small reference to the Vietnam conflict. Originally released on the small Los Angeles, Californian label Soultown, it was later issued in 1971 - I'll Take You Back (If You Promise) / Where Do We Go From Here (America) (Warner Bros. Records # 7538). Bobby Sanders - West Coast soul producer and owner of Soultown - produced the song, co-wrote it with Fulton Mitchell, and co-arranged it with Art Freeman. The narrator said that "we have conquered the atom bomb, almost Vietnam", and that the US government continued "to practice hate". The song referred to contradictions within the US, such as between the races and the social-economic classes. Thus, argued the narrator, the US "lacked unity" and that the country needed to "clean up" its "own backyard". The track goes down in the anti-Vietnam camp, although it is not explicitly stated.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

The track "Where Do We Go From Here" (Soultown Records # P-103) put forward a strong critique of the US, with a small reference to the Vietnam conflict. Originally released on the small Los Angeles, Californian label Soultown, it was later issued in 1971 - I'll Take You Back (If You Promise) / Where Do We Go From Here (America) (Warner Bros. Records # 7538). Bobby Sanders - West Coast soul producer and owner of Soultown - produced the song, co-wrote it with Fulton Mitchell, and co-arranged it with Art Freeman. The narrator said that "we have conquered the atom bomb, almost Vietnam", and that the US government continued "to practice hate". The song referred to contradictions within the US, such as between the races and the social-economic classes, falling into the Civil Rights category. Thus, argued the narrator, the US "lacked unity" and that the country needed to "clean up" its "own backyard". The track goes down in the anti-Vietnam camp, although it is not explicitly stated.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: The black, the white, America, the land that we love / This is our country, yes it it / We have conquered the atom bomb, almost Vietnam / Where do we go from here / We teach other nations faith, while we continue to practice hate / If we would clean up our own backyard... / We have broken the marriage vows and everything the law allows... / We blame others for our own mistakes... / We have fought to be free but we don't have unity... / Where do we go from here / The rich, the poor, we have built a mighty land / But how long will it stand / Where do we go from here

Notes

Soultown Records S-13-A; "Where Do We Go from Here (America)" (Bobby Sanders - F. Mitchell), 2:49, Lenoir-Four Ways (BMI); Cool Sounds; "Arr. by Bobby Sanders-Art Freeman"; "Produced by Bobby Sanders the Sound of Hollywood"; yellow and black city-skyline label. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Anti-War · Soldier's Perspective

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years] · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs