ehBeth, if you can find any, please post them. I know that the protesters sang many. I was thinking of songs from a soldier's point of view.
For a while I thought that Glen Campbell's "Galveston" was a Vietnam vet song. I love it, however.
Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea winds blowin'
I still see her dark eyes glowin'
She was 21 when I left Galveston
Galveston, oh Galveston, I still hear your sea waves crashing
While I watch the cannons flashing
I clean my gun and dream of Galveston
I still see her standing by the water
Standing there lookin' out to sea
And is she waiting there for me?
On the beach where we used to run
Galveston, oh Galveston, I am so afraid of dying
Before I dry the tears she's crying
Before I watch your sea birds flying in the sun
At Galveston, at Galveston
Letty, there are any numbers of songs about/for Vietnam. The ones I can think of are either extraordinarily sad or angry. Much like the young people who served in that war - and the adults they became
Quote:
I don't know much about the lexicon of music, ehbeth. Your last sentence intrigues me.
and I must say goodnight,
While I can still access the site.
Hope to see more veterans here tomorrow.
From Letty with Love
Letty, I believe you can add Joe Nation to your list.
ehBeth wrote:I sat with a group of people in their 20's at a wedding on Sunday night. One of them was quite distressed that Remembrance Day is no longer a national holiday in Canada. She told us it's the most important day of the year for her. She feels strongly that it's important to take the time to reflect about the meaning of war. There was agreement in the group. It was heartening to be part of that discussion.
it's funny , i was watching a report last night about the idea of reinstating rememberance day as a national holiday, and one of the groups opposed is the legion, the yfeel that most kids given the day off school would not participate in any ceremonies and would simply view at as a break from school, they feel that being in class and having a discussion or participating in a school ceremony would be a better way to honour the day
This is a sad song about a vet who returns from Nam with a monkey on his back.
Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.
Chorus:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....
Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
Repeat Chorus:
Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the G, I. Bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill
This is where my maternal grandfather lost his life.
http://www.a.jackson.btinternet.co.uk/pals.htm
panzade, Sam Stone breaks me up every time I hear it. I love John Prine.
Today is also Memorial Day in Canada. I'll be giving secular prayers and silence for my grandfather, field medic in WWII, and a high school friend, Israeli citizen, pacifist, who had to move back there years ago and join the military. We lost touch after that.
Good morning all.
Eva, you must send a note to Joe Nation and tell him to make an appearance.
Don, I took a brief look at your link and especially liked the picture. No one's life has been untouched by these events, and I am glad that a day has been set aside for those who "gave that last full measure of devotion."
Panz. I knew a young man who returned from Nam with the same monkey as Sam Stone. A fitting song, and a grim reminder.
Phoenix, a great idea you have there.
Salute to all!
I'm a veteran!
Thanks to all the soldiers present and past. (((hugs)))
A special kiss or 2 to my FI and all his friends in Iraq too.
Great poems, btw
Jo, I had no idea. Hey, gal, so glad you posted, and you tell your fiance we appreciate HIM, although we are torn over the conflict.
Means a lot.
If you ever see a soldier at the airport coming home from R&R .......say THANKS! You would not believe the # of stories I hear soldiers told me about how they wanted to leave the military but when they get small thanks you's by us .....it gives them the boost of energy they needed to go back and keep fighting.
My FI said when he came home, people REFUSED to let him pay for meals at the airport (he's required to wear his uniform coming home), and someone upgraded his ticket to first class!
Myself, I barely remember me at all, "when blackness was a virtue, when the road was full of mud" but I saw this movie one time and it starred someone I fogot and with good reason too. It was not me in that film from my mind, it was someone else.
Dys, I realize that the tremors of war produce a fissure in the minds of many who have been there. Frankly, I think it's a good thing. It was many, many years before my brother-in-law could even talk about his experiences, and then it was almost with sordid recall.
Thanks for remembering, Letty.
djjd - if you get a chance tonight or on Sunday, keep an eye out on TVO for a half-hour documentary on Remembrance Day put together by some high school students in Toronto. I heard part of it on the radio this morning, as well as an interview with a couple of the students and the teacher. The students were saying that they were going all out to make sure their classmates would not miss the assembly where it would be shown - they want to share the veterans memories with everyone.
I had an odd moment this morning when I realized that it won't be long that there won't be any Great War veterans alive, and that people who knew them are my age and older.
Rog, no way could I forget you, buddy.
ehBeth, how very interesting. Wish I could hear it as well...and I suspect that by The Great War you mean WWI, right?
I need to find Morganwood.
The Great War, World War One.
They never thought there'd be another one.
They thought people would realize that nothing could be achieved by war.
