Johnny Viet
1983 · Hysterical HA-EP001 · Champaign, Illinois
- Artist
- The First Things
- Title
- Johnny Viet
- Release
- A Nation of Employees
- Year
- 1983
- Label
- Hysterical # HA-EP001
- Format
- 12" · EP
- Country
- Champaign, Illinois, USA
- Genre
- Punk · Post-Punk
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Post-Punk group based in Champaign, Illinois, USA, featuring the members: Mel Eberle (bass), Pete Govert (guitar), Steve Foster, Mike Majdic, and Davin Carey. They released the song "Johnny Viet" (Hysterical Records # HA-EP001), which used the Vietnam War in its title, although the song is about the conflict in Ireland: "Emerald Isle...IRA and UDA don't mean a thing" - the UDA is the Ulster Defence Association, an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, and the IRA is a paramilitary group which supports an independent republic free from British rule.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: The sands of the times were plowing at his back / His patron saint was lucky... / The Emerald Isle was sinking at last / Who ya for? / It doesn't matter / What ya doing? / Wasting time... / It doesn't matter / Said all I want is to ?... / The bells of the church were ringing fast / Caught in the middle of a violent past / Exporting it's hate in today's path / Who ya for? / IRA and UDA don't mean a thing / Freckles and fair skinned ?... / They see a package ?.... / Rubber bullets make it hard to go home
About the artist
Post-Punk group based in Champaign, Illinois, USA; members included Mel Eberle (bass, vocals), Pete Govert (guitar), Steve Foster (drums), Mike Majdic and Davin Carey (vocals, guitar).