Johnny Cash Singing In Vietnam Talking Blues Lyrics

Singing In Vietnam Talking Blues Lyrics

One mornin' at breakfast I said to my wife

"We've been everywhere once and some places twice"

As I had another helpin' of country ham

She said, "We ain't never been to Vietnam

There's a bunch of our boys over there"

So, we went to the Orient, Saigon



Well, we got a big welcome when we drove in

Through the gates of a place that they call Long Ben

We checked in and everything got kinda quite

But a soldier boy said, "Just wait 'til tonight

Things get noisy, things start happening'

Big bad firecrackers"



Well, that night we did about four shows for the boys

And they were livin' it up with a whole lot of noise

We did our last song for the night

Then we crawled into bed for some peace and quite

But things weren't peaceful and things weren't quite

Things were scary



Well, for a few minutes June never said one word

And I thought at first that she hadn't heard

Then a shell exploded not two miles away

She sat up in bed and I heard her say, "What was that?"

I said "That was a shell or a bomb"

She said, "I'm scared", I said, "Me too"



Well, all night long that noise kept on

And the sound would chill you right to the bone

The bullets and the bombs and the motor shells

Shook our bed every time one fell and it never let up

It was gonna get worse before it got any better



Well when the sun came up the noise died down

We got a few minutes sleep and we were sleepin' sound

Then a soldier knocked on our door and said

"Last night we brought in seven dead and fourteen wounded"

And would we come down to the base hospital

And see the boys, yeah



So we went to the hospital ward by day

And every night we were singin' away

Then the shells and the bombs 'til dawn again

And the helicopters brought in a wounded man

Night after night, day after day, comin' and a goin'



So we sadly sang for them our last song

And reluctantly we said so long

We did our best to let them know that we cared

For every last one of them it's over there

Whether we belonged over there or not

Somebody over here loves them and needs them



Well, now that's about all there is to tell

About that little trip into livin' hell

And if I ever go back over there anymore

Hope there's none of our boys there for me to sing for

I hope that war's over with and they all come back home

To stay in peace