We said we’d all go down together/
Yes we would all go down together.
Billy Joel’s “Goodnight Saigon” is one of the most devastating songs about the Vietnam War. Any war really. Joel sings the song in the first person, but he never fought in the war. However, the picture he paints sounds as if he was really there. I read in interviews that he did research for this song. From the helicopter in the beginning to the slow, dreary lyrics and the weary music, this song is one of the best war songs.
It is not a typical protest song, though Joel would certainly be anti-war. The message of the song is that the soldiers fight for each other, and that a special bond develops between them because of their closeness to death. Also, Joel emphasizes how young the soldiers are that are fighting the war.
The sing-along at the end is a great use of the medium. He imagines a song that they might all sing while doing rounds: “And we will all go down together…” I can imagine later soldiers adopting this line and calling it out as they march for miles. It fits in the song well and is very inventive.
Goodnight Saigon Lyrics
We met as soulmates
On Parris Island,
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 homefront,
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 motors,
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.
Songwriters: Billy Joel
