Wish You Were Here, Buddy

Annotation

The song "Wish You Were Here, Buddy" (Dot Records # 16933), used sarcasm to express his loyalty to the US soldier, support for government policies, and disgust with the protest movement. Narrated in the first person, from the perspective of a soldier in Vietnam, who wrote to his "buddy" back home - the lyrics switched between describing the situation in the war zone, to the soldier noting the activities in the US. So the soldier heard that his friend had been "leading those campus demonstrations", busy with "sit downs, walk outs", and had "struck a little match" to his "old draft card". The soldier sarcastically commented that "I know you are not scared...you just stay home and leave the fighting to us". The narrator humorously compared this to ... - later known as Muhammad Ali - who tried, and failed, to obtain conscientious objector status in 1967 (refusing to turn up for induction), and subsequently convicted. This contrasted to his legendary career in the boxing ring: "you're a regular Cassius Clay".1 The narrator also took pleasure in mocking the appearance of his friend: "you let your hair grow...you hardly have time to shave...you look so fine like, something crawled out of a cave". Meanwhile, the soldiers in South Vietnam did "a job that must be done", while "sleeping in the jungle and ducking real bullets". The narrator then sent what seemed to be a menacing threat, that when he returned from Vietnam, he will "come looking for you". Or, alternatively, if the soldier's buddy paid a visit to Vietnam, he would "introduce you to them Comms". Featured on the album Wish You Were Here, Buddy (Dot # DLP-3764) - the cover of which had a painting of a soldier sitting in the jungle, writing a letter home. At the time, Chicago Daily News folk and political columnist Mike Royko, winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 1972, took exception to Boone's song, because "as it turns out, Boone missed the joys of military life". During the Korean War, he avoided the draft as he had a family and studied in college. He described himself as a "partial conscientious objector".2Sources1Legal Information Institute: Clay (Muhammad Ali) v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971)↩2Daily News↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Civil Rights Songs

The song "Wish You Were Here, Buddy" (Dot Records # 16933), used sarcasm to express his loyalty to the US soldier, support for government policies, and disgust with the protest movement. Narrated in the first person, from the perspective of a soldier in Vietnam, who wrote to his "buddy" back home - the lyrics switched between describing the situation in the war zone, to the soldier noting the activities in the US. So the soldier heard that his friend had been "leading those campus demonstrations", busy with "sit downs, walk outs", and had "struck a little match" to his "old draft card". The soldier sarcastically commented that "I know you are not scared...you just stay home and leave the fighting to us". The narrator humorously compared this to Cassius Clay - later known as Muhammad Ali - who tried and failed to obtain conscientious objector status in 1967 (refusing to turn up for induction), and subsequently convicted, famously saying "I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong" - this was seen as both a religious and Civil Rights message. This contrasted to his legendary career in the boxing ring: "you're a regular Cassius Clay".1 The narrator also took pleasure in mocking the appearance of his friend: "you let your hair grow...you hardly have time to shave...you look so fine like, something crawled out of a cave". Meanwhile, the soldiers in South Vietnam did "a job that must be done", while "sleeping in the jungle and ducking real bullets". The narrator then sent what seemed to be a menacing threat, that when he returned from Vietnam, he will "come looking for you". Or, alternatively, if the soldier's buddy paid a visit to Vietnam, he would "introduce you to them Comms". Featured on the album Wish You Were Here, Buddy (Dot # DLP-3764) - the cover of which had a painting of a soldier sitting in the jungle, writing a letter home. At the time, Chicago Daily News folk and political columnist Mike Royko, winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 1972, took exception to Boone's song, because "as it turns out, Boone missed the joys of military life". During the Korean War, he avoided the draft as he had a family and studied in college. He described himself as a "partial conscientious objector".2Sources1Legal Information Institute: Clay (Muhammad Ali) v. United States, 403 U.S. 698 (1971)↩2Daily News↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Well, hi there, buddy, thought I'd drop you a line / I haven't seen you for a hundred years /When you get time will you let me know if it's true what a fella hears / Heard you been leading those campus demonstrations / You're as busy as you can be / If the sit downs, walk outs and others aggravate you, bet you hardly ever think of me / Well, I'm on a little vacation in South Vietnam and expense paid trip for one / I got my own little rifle and a great uniform and a job that must be done / Well, we're sleeping in the jungle and ducking real bullets / And man, it's a lot of fun, wish you were here / I heard you let your hair grow, til it's hanging on your shoulders / And you hardly have time to shave / Bet the girls all flip cause you look so fine like, something crawled out of a cave / Heard Uncle Sam nearly scared you to death / But you fooled him just in time / Just struck a little match to your old draft card and you burned up a future like mine... / Oh, I know you're not scared, you're a real brave guy / You're a regular Cassius Clay / And I know you'd a fought when the country was young, but the world's just different today / Well, you just stay home and leave the fighting to us / And when the whole darn mess is through / I'll put away my rifle and the old uniform and I'll come looking for you... / I wanna introduce you to them Comms... / Come on over and we'll just hold em til you get here

Notes

Black Dot "Ultra High Fidelity" label 45-16933 (MB-21546); "Wish You Were Here, Buddy" (P. Boone), time 1:58, Spoone Music Corp., ASCAP; produced by Nick Venet and Randy Wood, arranged and conducted by Ernie Freeman; Dot Records, Inc., Hollywood 28, Calif. [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

American pop singer, born 1 June 1934 in Jacksonville, Florida ('Wish You Were Here, Buddy'). [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Patriotic · Draft Card Burning · Demonstration · Muhammad Ali · Draft Resistance · Draft

In collections

Civil Rights Songs · Draft Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]