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Hopped in my Taurus today and my wife had the stereo cranked up the last time she drove it. She had been listening to "Goodnight Saigon" by Billy Joel. I freaking love that song.
It's a song about U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War.
Out of hundreds of guest speakers I have seen in school settings over the years, the one that sticks out the most was our former JH principal speaking to us about his experiences fighting in Vietnam. He said that with an exception of the movie, "Hamburger Hill," nothing comes even remotely close to capturing what the Vietnam experience was truly like, like Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon" did. He played the song for our class and he started bawling. I'll never forget it.
I know many vets do not like to speak about their experiences, which is understandable, but if there are any Vietnam vets or vets in general on this board, how close is this song in terms of accurately depicting that experience?
Billy Joel "Goodnight Saigon"
We left as inmates from an asylum
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives
And we were so gung ho to lay down our lives
We came in spastic like tameless horses
We left in plastic as numbered corpses
And we learned fast to travel light
Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight
We had no home front, we had no soft soap
They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope
We dug in deep and shot on sight
And prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might
We had no cameras to shoot the landscape
We passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes
And it was dark, so dark at night
And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write
And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together
Remember Charlie, remember Baker
They left their childhood on every acre
And who was wrong? And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fights
We held the day in the palm of our hands
They ruled the nights, and the nights
Seemed to last as long as six weeks...
...On Parris Island
We held the coastline, they held the highlands
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive
And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes we would all go down together
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