Goodnight Saigon

"We met as soul mates On Paris Island We left as inmates From an asylum And we were sharp As sharp as knives And we were so gun ho to lay down our lives."

He met friends while on training at Paris Island, the USMC base, they left that base as men who had been trapped and had nothing. They were trained to be the cutting edge of the USMC. And they believed that they were going into combat to defend their country and possibly die for it.

"We came in spastic Like tame less horses We left in plastic As numbered corpses And we learned fast To travel light Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight"

They came in, anxious and excited, barely able to be contained. But in the end they got back in body bags. They adapted quickly to leave a lot of stuff behind that they wouldn't use in the jungle so they didn't carry a lot. Their arms were heavy from the duty they had to do while their stomachs were tight cause of the little food.

"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."

They didn't have a good front line, since it was asymmetrical warfare. They didn't get luxury supplies as soap, but got playboy and comedians to keep the morale high. They dug themselves in to keep the vietcong back and shot everyone who they saw in the jungle. They prayed that they wouldn't be the next the vietcong would take.

"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 onto each other Like brother to brother We promised our mothers we'd write"

They couldn't record what they were going through, or the beauty of a peaceful Vietnam to sent back home. They were on drugs and listened to tapes from The Doors (A US rock group). The night in the jungle was dark cause there was nothing to light it and they sought to each other for support and courage, like brothers help brothers. And they promised their mother's they'd write from Vietnam, something they barely could at times.

"And we would all go down together We said we'd all go down together Yes we would all go down together"

And they were all going through it together. They'd all make it together, or they'd all die 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 fight"

Charlie was the nickname for the Vietcong, and Baker is a common US surname. I think this means that both sides had young men dying, losing their childhood to this war cause they didn't survive. And when there, nobody cared who was right, it was insanity. They forgot when they were fighting and just fought to survive.

"We, held the day In the palm of our hands They, ruled the night And the night, seemed to last as long as six weeks On Paris Island We held the coastline They held the highland And they were sharp As sharp as knives They heard the hum of the motors They counted the rotors And waited for us to arrive"

The United States were superior during the day. They held the day in their hand, with aircraft and artillery being able to keep off the Vietcong. But in the night, there were no aircraft or artillery. And then, the Vietcong had the upper hand. Every night, would seem like the six weeks of training at Paris Island, so nerve wrecking and bad. The United States held the coastline, as bases and landing sites. While the Vietcong held the mountains with their tunnel networks the US couldn't find. And the tide had turned, the Vietcong had the upper hand, they were the superior warriors, they were the cutting edge over the USMC. They would wait, watching the US forces in their vehicles, or observe the helicopters, counting the amount. I think this relates to the psychological effect of the jungle, that the soldiers always had the feeling they were being watched by the Vietcong. And when the US was there, the Vietcong would know how many and where, and they'd ambush.

"And we would all go down together We said we'd all go down together Yes we would all go down together"

And whatever happened, they were still going through it together.

This song just makes me so bitter towards the American society. It makes me think of Born on the Fourth of July (W/Tom Cruise)...It depresses me because I feel so much for all the men who went to fight thinking it was the right thing to do, but then came home to absolutely no welcoming. That's f*cked up if you ask me.

The men who went to vietnam and faced death for 365 days kno what this song means and anyone who had the balls to spit on them when they got home should be shot. That was bullshit, if you dont agree with the governments actions, dont spit on the ones who actually went there, they had enough to worry about. Even when they got back the nightmares and flashbacks are more than any of those fucking hippies could handle.

The men who went to vietnam and faced death for 365 days kno what this song means and anyone who had the balls to spit on them when they got home should be shot. That was bullshit, if you dont agree with the governments actions, dont spit on the ones who actually went there, they had enough to worry about. Even when they got back the nightmares and flashbacks are more than any of those fucking hippies could handle.

Great song, not the most historically accurate. About the only Marines (Parris Island) in Saigon were the embassy guards. Drug use in the Marines was extremely low in comparison to the other branches, also.

I do agree that it's bullshit how vets were treated when they got home. Regardless of what your opinion on politics is, it takes BALLS to get and fight like that. If my opinion matters... I may paraphrase George Orwell, "people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

/rant PS: the average age of a serviceman in Vietnam was 22-23, not 19 as is commonly quoted

As a 19 year old private infantry soldier I just can't find the words to express what this song means to me. I mean, the average soldier there was 19. Like, more than half of them were younger than me, just teenagers..

"Remember Charlie Remember Baker They left their childhood On every acre"

That really sums it up like, the soldiers were still only kids, they were just kids and a lot of them were drafted. So what ya have is an army of drafted kids who're half scared to death in a foreign country and those that don't make it spill their blood all over the country (spill their childhood). Those that do make it are then treated like shit when they get home. Nobody deserves that! I don't agree with what happened in vietnam, I don't agree with what's happening in iraqistan either but I'd be the last person to blame the troops. Ya know why? Because it's not their fault. When you enlist you take an oath to obey all lawful orders. It's not the troops fault if the orders are f*cked up. They're just doing their job and trying to stay alive. Which brings me on to

"And who was wrong? And who was right? It didn't matter in the thick of the fight "

Vietnam was a slaughter house on both sides... I don't blame the soldiers for what they did and I don't understand how anyone else can. How can people sit on their high horse and preach when they've never been there? When they've never known the terror of sitting in enemy territory at night, knowing deep down that you're not going to win this war and just waiting for the day when a bullet sends you home?!? If you're living like that day in, day out it REALLY doesn't matter if your side are right or wrong, all that matters is getting out alive.

It's very, very easy to take the easy option and be all anti-vietnam vets. What's not easy is to go into a situation like that and keep fighting and doing your best, even if you really don't want to.

"They heard the hum of our motors They counted the rotors And waited for us to arrive"

I'd like to see any of the crusties go into a situation like the one he describes above (which a lot of vietnam was) and remain anti-vets.

This song just means so much to me. It's so right because it's not talking about the politics of the war, it's just talking about the war and the kids that were fighting it.

This song is incredibly brilliant and I get chills and tears every time I hear it. I'm 17 years old and don't know anyone who served in Vietnam but the song still make it feel so close to me. On a musical level, I think the song is amazing. I love the repeating melody and I really love when it goes into "We held the night" part. Historically accurate or not, it tells a tale close enough to what went on over in Vietnam. I'm in awe of the people who fight for our country and this song really makes me feel it.

I listened to this song for the first time in years and thought I heard something new. The song starts out focusing on the American soldiers, then in the last verse changes to the perspective of the Viet Cong:

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

Then goes into the closing chorus:

And we would all go down together We said we'd all go down together Yes we would all go down together

It's easy to hear the "we" in the final chorus as still being just about the American soldiers, but what if he's talking about not just them, but the American and Viet Cong soldiers together? What if they would ALL go down together? Meaning, war will take us all down.

Don't know if BJ intended that interpretation, but I sure like it.

its great

Anyone who has ever seen Billy Joel play this song in Madison Square would agree that it sends a chill up your spine. The crowd just goes crazy.