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Said goodbye to his momma as he left South Dakota
To fight for the red, white and blue
He was nineteen and green with a new M-16
Just doing what he had to do
He was dropped in the jungle where the choppers would rumble
With the smell of napalm in the air
And the sergeant said look up ahead
Like a dark evil cloud
Twelve-hundred came down on him and twenty-nine more
They fought for their lives but most of them died
In the one-seventythird Airborne
On the eighth of November the angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away
With the fire raining down and the hell all around
There were few men left standing that day
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky
1965, the eighth of November
Now he's fifty-eight and his pony tail's gray
But the battle still plays in his head
He limps when he walks but he's strong when he talks
About the Shrapnel they left in his leg
He puts on a gray suit over his Airborne tattoo
And he ties it on one time a year
And remembers the fallen as he orders a tall one
And swallows it down with his tears
On the eighth of November the angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away
With the fire raining down and the hell all around
There were few men left standing that day
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky
1965
The eighth of November
The eighth of November (eighth of November)
Said goodbye to his momma as he left South Dakota
To fight for the red, white, and blue
He was nineteen and green with a new M-16
Just doing what he had to do
To fight for the red, white and blue
He was nineteen and green with a new M-16
Just doing what he had to do
He was dropped in the jungle where the choppers would rumble
With the smell of napalm in the air
And the sergeant said look up ahead
Like a dark evil cloud
Twelve-hundred came down on him and twenty-nine more
They fought for their lives but most of them died
In the one-seventythird Airborne
On the eighth of November the angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away
With the fire raining down and the hell all around
There were few men left standing that day
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky
1965, the eighth of November
Now he's fifty-eight and his pony tail's gray
But the battle still plays in his head
He limps when he walks but he's strong when he talks
About the Shrapnel they left in his leg
He puts on a gray suit over his Airborne tattoo
And he ties it on one time a year
And remembers the fallen as he orders a tall one
And swallows it down with his tears
On the eighth of November the angels were crying
As they carried his brothers away
With the fire raining down and the hell all around
There were few men left standing that day
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky
1965
The eighth of November
The eighth of November (eighth of November)
Said goodbye to his momma as he left South Dakota
To fight for the red, white, and blue
He was nineteen and green with a new M-16
Just doing what he had to do
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Beautiful song, the meaning is kind of obvious. Technically about Niles Harris in war zone "D" in operation Hump in Vietnam, and how he fought for his country and how he saw so many of his friends and fellow soldiers die right in front of him.
But in a more general view, this song might be describable for any soldier who fought in Vietnam, the feeling of fighting for your country, but also the feeling over knowing that you're probably going to die and that all your friends are dying before your eyes.
I don't usually like country, but this is an amazing song.
This is the first song about vietnam not a protest. And please correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first and only song about vietnam.
i highly doubt this is the 'first and only' song about vietnam
This song is amazing. Definitely my favorite B&R song. It was a stupid war but they sacrificed their lives and their innocence to a cause they didn't even understand. They should be honored. This song somehow seems calming, it makes me feel better to hear it say, "On the 8th of November the angels were crying as they carried his brothers away." It's so sad. I can see it.
Hear this song is like looking at a painting of Vietnam. It is beautiful. My grampa was there that day. He can tell some stories about it. Some pretty graphic, like losing his helmet and picking on up off the ground and brains fell out. He said "I didn't mind, though. I was doing what I had to do for my fellow troops and America. I was fighting for what I loved." Luckily, all he camet back with a was minor gunwound and a purple heart. Although I love to hear his stories, some of them can last around 3 hours. I interviewed him as an assignment once, and I learned more from him than I did in any books.
This is an awesome song about vietnam, i can't really say anything else that has already been said besides there are definetley more songs about vietnam. Rooster, by Alice in Chains, is about the war