| Cold Chisel – Khe Sanh Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Great song. Can't believe they haven't heard this in the USA. As a vet I can understand but not a vet of this war. Let me break it down to you. Some is self explanitory so I won't translate. 'I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh' Sappers were a special Viet Cong combat group that specialised in sabotage, guerilla warfare etc. He's saying that he's left his heart to them with the withdrawal but his heart will always be there wherever he may roam. ‘And my soul was sold with my cigarettes to the blackmarket man’ Whenever you check into a new duty station you are given a rations card for a limited amount of duty free Alcohol and cigarettes to ensure you don't go over your limit and aren't selling them for a profit to civilian locals who will buy from you and maybe even sell them again at a higher price off the base. I'm assuming this is his first 'crime'. Too bad because all of us did it. "I've had the Vietnam cold turkey From the ocean to the Silver City And it's only other vets could understand" He really misses the place and has trouble being away from it. Your first duty station always has a special hold on you that you can never replace. "About the long forgotten dockside guarantees" Guarantees or promises by a girlfriend or spouse as you are leaving that they will stay faithful and be waiting for your. Can't help but chuckle at this one because I've seen the outcome so many times. "How there were no V-day heroes in 1973" WWI and WWII had huge ticker tape parades and celebrations for the vets when they came home after winning the war. We didn't win this one so instead of having parades, the vets had protests and dog sh!t thrown at them and nobody else really cared. "And she was like so many more from that time on Their lives were all so empty, till they found their chosen one And their legs were often open But their minds were always closed And their hearts were held in fast suburban chains" About Aussie women just looking for their chosen husband so they can settle down, have children and relax for the rest of their lives and let their husband look after them. "And the legal pads were yellow, hours long, paypacket lean And the telex writers clattered where the gunships once had been" He’s traded the war in Vietnam for the war in the Divorce Courtroom. Assuming it's his wife who gave and forgot about their ‘dockside guarantee’ but couldn't deal with his a$$ since returning from Nam. "But the car parks made me jumpy And I never stopped the dreams Or the growing need for speed and novacaine" The war dreams don't seem to stop and he can't control them. I imangine car parks aren't his favourite place as open, quiet places with lots of cover and nobody around can make you a bit nervous. "And I've travelled round the world from year to year And each one found me aimless, one more year the more for wear And I've been back to South East Asia You know the answer sure ain't there But I'm drifting north, to check things out again" Again about your first duty station and the affect the war had on him, that even though he knows he’s not going to find any answers there’s still a slim chance he might and he wants to see how much things have changed since he left. YOu can stand there looking at a street corner for hours because of the memories you have of that place. Noone else will understand but you. “Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone Yeah the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone And it's really got me worried I'm goin' nowhere and I'm in a hurry And the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone” At the end of it, Australia has nothing left for him. He’s holding on to all this baggage from the war but everybody else had moved on and doesn’t care. He knows he be back though because he will never find the answers he’s looking for. |
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