Where Have All Our Heroes Gone

Annotation

Anderson (born 1937, Columbia, South Carolina) a hugely successful pop-country singer and songwriter, based in Nashville, Tennessee, released the song "Where Have All Our Heroes Gone?" (Decca Records # 32744) which attacked the protest movement, arguing that the demonstrators set a bad example to the next generation.1 The narrator felt "sick to my stomach" because the "now generation" admired left-wing radicals. He praised people from the past, such Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, and Joe DiMaggio. Anderson particularly drew attention to Winston Churchill, whose "two fingers raised together meant victory, not just 'let your enemy have it all' kind of peace" - i.e. comparing those protesting against the Vietnam War to appeasers before World War Two, and that Churchill's 'V for victory' meant more than the two-fingered 'peace sign' used by demonstrators. He also criticised an unnamed "communist" folk singer who did not pay taxes - presumably a reference to Joan Baez, who refused, from 1964, to pay 60% of her taxes, which went to the Department of Defense. Baez declared that "weapons and wars have murdered, burned, distorted, crippled", and thus she called herself a 'war tax resister'.234 The song also featured on the album Where Have All Our Heroes Gone? (Decca # DL 75254). On 3 October 1970 Billboard mentioned the track in its "singles spotlight", writing that "Anderson comes up with top...material and a powerhouse message lyric certain to take him to the top".5 It reached # 6 in the Billboard country charts on 5 December 1970, # 93 in the pop chart. Composed by Anderson and Bob Talbert.67 The reference to African-American heroes - the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and the athlete Jesse Owens, led to some censorship on southern country radio stations.8Sources1Google Books↩2The New York Times↩3ew.com (archived copy)↩4warresisters.org (archived copy)↩5Billboard, 3 October 1970↩6Billboard, 5 December 1970↩7Billboard, 5 December 1970↩8Billboard, 5 December 1970↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Where have all our heroes gone, what's come over our great land? / America is still my home sweet home, but where have all our heroes gone? / I saw a group of boys the other day standing in the corner of a playground / Looking and laughin' at a magazine and I overheard one of the boys say: 'man is he ever cool'... / And I got sick to my stomach because I'd seen the cover... / The man...had instigated a riot in one of our major cities last summer / And the magazine was writing about how the police were unkind to him / The judges where unfair and how he talked back and slung his long hair about... / They made him into a regular hero... / Are these people the young boys look up to... / Are these heroes of the 'now' generation?... / I had heroes when I was a kid... / Like General Douglas MacArthur... / Like Jesse Owens who showed Hitler... / And General Ike, bless your soul... / We've killed some of our recent heroes / The Kennedys, the Kings... / My heroes were people like Joe DiMaggio... / And Winston Churchill, whose two fingers raised...meant victory / Not just let your enemy have it all kind of peace... / And a story of a folk singer who proudly claims to be both a member of a party alien to our government and a non-tax payin' citizen / These young boys read with open eyes and open minds / And I thought to myself my God

Notes

Decca 732744 (7-122,969), stereo, ℗ 1970; "Where Have All Our Heroes Gone" (Bill Anderson-Bob Talbert), 3:59; Bill Anderson; rainbow-stripe Decca label, "Made in Canada by the Compo Company Ltd. Licensed by Decca Records, a Division of MCA Inc. N.Y., U.S.A." [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

This is country star James William 'Whisperin' Bill' Anderson, born 1 November 1937 in Columbia, South Carolina - Decca hitmaker and Grand Ole Opry member; he took 'Where Have All Our Heroes Gone' into the country top ten in 1970 and issued a Decca album of the same title. [Source: Wikipedia; Discogs]

Themes

Patriotic

In collections

US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]