“Goodnight Saigon” is a song written by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel and recorded in 1982. The song paints pictures of the US Marines training on Parris Island, South Carolina, as well as combat in Vietnam. The video of the song is dedicated to the American soldiers who died during the Vietnam War.
Goodnight Saigon lyrics:
We met as soul mates 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 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 on to 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 week
On Parris Island
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
And we would all go down together
We said we’d all go down together
Yes, we would all go down together
Note: Parris Island in South Carolina has U.S. Marine Corps training facility.