Billy Joel: Goodnight Saigon (1982)

Goodnight Saigon was written and recorded by American singer-pianist Billy Joel. It appeared on Joel’s 1982 album The Nylon Curtain and was released as a single the following year. Goodnight Saigon is told from the perspective of a young American reflecting on his service in Vietnam. Joel’s lyrics focus on the brotherhood and camaraderie of soldiers in Vietnam. It mentions aspects of combat, including the skill of the Viet Cong (“they were sharp, as sharp as knives”). It also refers to cultural experiences of soldiers in Vietnam, such as Playboy, Bob Hope and The Doors. Though it was written seven years after the war and achieved only moderate chart success, Goodnight Saigon is considered an evocative account of military service in Vietnam.

We met as soul mates on Parris Inland
We left as inmates from an asylum
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives
And we were so gung-ho to lay down our lives

We came in spastic, like tameless horses
We left in plastic as numbered corpses
And we learned fast to travel light
Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight

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

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

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

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 Parris Island
We held the coastline, they held the highland
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard the hum of the mortars
They counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive

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


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