Patty Smith Gung Ho Lyrics

Gung Ho Lyrics

On a field of red one gold starRaised above his head
Raised above his
head
He was not like any other
He was just like any otherAnd the song
they bledWas a hymn to him
Awake my little one
The seed of
revolution
Sewn in the sleeveOf cloth humbly worn
Where others are
adorned

Above the northern plainThe great birds flyWith great
wings
Over the paddy fields
And the people kneelAnd the men they
toil
Yet not for their own
And the children are hungry
And the wheel
groans
There before a grass hut
A young boy stood
His mother lay
deadHis sisters cried for bread
And within his young heartThe seed of
revolution sewn
In cloth humbly wornWhile others are adorned

And he
grew into a man
Not like any otherJust like any other
One small man
A
beard the color of rice
A face the color of teaWho shared the misery
Of
other men in chains
With shackles on his feet
Escaped the
guillotine

Who fought againstColonialism imperialism
Who remained
awake
While others slept
Who penned like Jefferson
Let independence
ring
And the cart of justice turns
Slow and bitterly
And the people
were crying
Plant that seed that seedAnd they crawled on their
bellies
Beneath the giant beast
And filled the carts with bodies
Where
once had been their crops

And the great birds swarmSpread their wings
overhead
And his mother deadAnd the typhoons and the rain
The jungles in
flames
And the orange sun
None could be more beautifulThan
Vietnam
Nothing was more beautifulThan Vietnam

And his heart stopped
beating
And the wheel kept turningAnd the words he bled
Were a hymn to
them
I have served the whole peopleI have served my whole country
And as
I leave this worldMay you suffer union
And my great affectionLimitless as
skyFilled with golden stars

The question is raised
Raised above his
head
Was he of his word
Was he a good man
For his image fills the
southern heart
With none but bitterness

And the people keep
crying
And the men keep dyingAnd it's so beautifulSo beautiful
Give me
one more turnGive me one more turn
One more turn of the wheel
One more
revolution
One more turn of the wheel