Lyrics:

Back in 1968, war was in the air,
Flowers all had power, kids all swore they cared
Billy's lucky number came up in the lottery,
He won himself an all expense paid trip across the sea
To Vietnam, from Uncle Sam, why thank you man
On his tour of duty Billy met a Saigon whore,
Billy got her pregnant, she gave him a baby boy
Billy had a girl back home and he'd asked for her hand
Little Asian babies weren't a part of Billy's plan
Billy left them both for dead like they were Viet Cong
Billy got back to the world and found his girl was gone
To make her stand, against Vietnam, against Uncle Sam
Years went by, and Billy tried to put the past behind,
Some times at night he'd swear he dreamed he heard a baby cry
Billy sat up sweating, and he'd stare into the night,
Saw a woman and a young man in a restaurant
Billy recognized her, even after all the years
Then he prayed to a God he'd damned to help him with his fear
Billy'd left them both for dead like they were Viet Cong
Billy came back from the world, he found them in Saigon, in Vietnam
Billy looked straight at her, as he walked into the room
She wouldn't look at Billy, she just swept up with her broom
Young man spoke to Billy, he said 'Hey there Uncle Sam,
I'm sorry but its closing time, you need some help, American?'
Billy fought to find the words his feelings couldn't show,
He looked at the woman, her eyes just told him 'no.'
The young man said to Billy, as he started for the door,
'Hey, my Dad was American, and he died in the war'
She had left Billy for dead like he'd been Viet Cong
She had raised her son up to be honest and be strong, in Vietnam,
Looking for a shadow moving, like a firefight
CD
So Billy went to Washington, he stood there at the Wall,
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No Uncle Sam, no thank you man
Billy took a look at her, before he walked away,
Cried for every name of every brother he'd watched fall.
As he stood there looking, two names he couldn't find
The names of that young Saigon girl and kid he'd left behind.
Billy left them both for dead like they were Viet Cong
Billy got back to the world and found out he'd been wrong
About Vietnam, about Uncle Sam, about lots a things.
Billy found old photos, bought a ticket for a plane,
Headed for that city that they now called Ho Chi Minh
Billy spent a month or so just chasing after ghosts
Found out that his memory still guarded its post.
He could have sworn he saw the smallest tear run down her face
Billy knew that there was no way that he could repay,
And Billy knew her secret was too sacred to betray.
So Billy took a medal out, that he'd won for the war,
He rubbed it on his sleeve one time, then gave it to that boy
He said, 'I knew your father, son, when he was just your age,
This was his, and now its yours', then Billy walked away
Billy left his past for dead like it was Viet Cong
Billy got back to his life to make right what was wrong
About Vietnam, about Uncle Sam, about lots of things
11. SONG FOR HUGH THOMPSON
(DAVID ROVICS)
David Rovics
Hugh Thomson was a pilot, just like many more
Fighting for Old Glory on a far-off, foreign shore
He was on a lethal mission, only one of many
Following his orders to kill the enemy, to kill the enemy
He flew low above the village, searching for the foe
When he saw a wounded child on the path below
He thought this to be a sure sign that the enemy was near
So he radioed for back-up and more choppers did appear,
More choppers did appear...
'Help the wounded,' he cried out, 'and beware of an attack'
'Train your weapons on the G.I.'s,' and his 'copter crews obeyed
And stood among the children, tattered and afraid
The whole town had been murdered,
But for some kids and widowed wives
And Hugh Thomson made sure that those remaining would survive,
That those remaining would survive ...
It was a fifteen-minute stand-off in a knee-deep sea of red
Amidst the moaning of the dying and the silence of the dead
Hugh Thomson was a soldier and he served his country well
On the day he saved the lives of a dozen kids in hell,
Of a dozen kids in hell...
And then the child died by a bullet through her back
And when he looked around for the culprits of the scene
It was a company of men in U.S. military green, U.S. military green...
The dead were in the hundreds, strewn all around
In this place called My Lai, which once had been a town
There was a hut of huddled children, soldiers had them in their sights

Hugh decided at that moment to fight for what was right,
To fight for what was right...