"It's not those who write the laws who run the country, it's those who write the songs." Chinese Proverb
The Energy Caper
Song Titles
Clicking on the titles will take you to a page with lyrics and an MP3.
"Zoloft, It's Been
Good to Know Ya' "
Other Scotty & The Skeptics tunes not yet integrated into this page can be found at www.skeptico.com
Put The Answers
On Your Wall!
The Guitar Poster™
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Free Tranpostion Table
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"Gotta Save Pittsburgh"
Every US Army drill sergeant had his own cadence-call to distiguish his platoon from the others in the company. They competed fiercely with each other, and it was a badge of honor who had the best. "I'm Gonna Go To Vietnam" was Drill Sgt. Watson's. He made us sing it over and over and over as he marched us hither and yon across the sands of Fort Dix in the summer of 1970. Cadence-calls were a traditional means of building morale, and even at that late date in the war, the Army hoped some of us would come to believe it and actually want to go to Vietnam.
About two decades years later I added the other verses, and once after a performance a woman came up and asked if I knew that it was derived from an old American folk tune called "The Crawdad Song." I said I'd never heard it, so she sang me a verse:
You get a line and I'll get a pole
Honey, Honey
You get a line and I'll get a pole
Babe, Babe
You get a line and I'll get a pole
We'll go down to that crawdad hole
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
I thanked her, and told her I'd always instnctively known Drill Sgt. Watson wasn't that melodic to have come up with it on his own.
The song is related to my short story, "Draft Night," in the Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace anthology in that a fictional character in that story is based on a real guy in this song. Big George (class of '65) and Frank ('66) went to high school with me near Pittsburgh. I often sing this at group readings of the anthology in lieu of reading from the story because I can finish the song in five minutes, whereas the story takes half an hour.
This was recorded in 1993, with my late friend, Keith Allen, on guitar. I have tweaked the lyrics, and I ask anyone covering this song to please observe these changes: While "gook" was commonly used back then in the military, many in the audience grimace when I sing the word. This is especially true for those who didn't have the experience of being in the US military in that era. I wrote it in an attempt to be historically accurate, but for many it detracts from the meaning of the song so much that they miss the point entirely. So when I do it live these days I update two lines: "He was perfect for killin' little commie gooks" gets changed to "perfect for killin' commies too," and "Played gooks and grunts with the Charley Cong" changes to "Played shoot to kill with the Charley Cong." One of these days I'll get around to rerecording it. Also, the number of names on The Wall has changed many times since this was recorded in 1993, so update to the most recent number which ends in five or nine to keep the rhyme. The last time I looked it was 58,249.
Gotta Save Pittsburgh
© Skeptico Music--BMI
I'm gonna go to Vietnam
Honey, Honey
I'm gonna go to Vietnam
Babe, Babe
I'm gonna go to Vietnam
I'm gonna kill the Charley Cong
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Gotta save Pittsburgh from the Charley Cong
Honey, Honey
Gotta save Pittsburgh from the Charley Cong
Babe, Babe
They say if Nam goes down like a domino
They'll be paddlin' up the O-hi-o-oooo
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
We're gonna win their hearts and minds
Honey, Honey
Teach 'em to wear suits and ties
Babe, Babe
We're gonna win their hearts and minds
Bomb 'em 'till they're civilized
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Gimme your left your right your left
Gimme your left your right your left.
Big George could really run the ball
Honey, Honey
With a better defense we'd 'a won it all
Babe, Babe
George could dunk and George could shoot
He'd was good at shootin' little commies too
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Frank wrote songs and played guitar
Honey, Honey
The girls all said he'd be a star
Babe, Babe
They were drafted over to The Nam
Played shoot to kill with the Charley Cong
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Frank and George ain't here no more
Honey, Honey
Frank and George ain't here no more
Babe, Babe
George never got to be a big pro star
And Frank's mom still shines up his old guitar
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Gimme your left your right your left
Gimme your left your right your left.
Get a room with twenty Democrats in it
Honey, Honey
Make 'em talk about nuthin' but Vietnam
Babe, Babe
Get such a room with twenty Democrats in it
They'll wring their hands and fight and bitch
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Get a room with twenty Republicans in it
Honey, Honey
Make 'em talk about nothin' but Vietnam
Babe, Babe
Get such a room with twenty Republicans in it
It's the same ol' lies and the same ol' shit
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Don't gimme no left no right no left
Don't gimme no left no right no left.
Fifty-eight thousand two-forty-nine
Honey, Honey,
Eight women and a lot of good guys
Babe, Babe
Fifty-eight thousand two-forty-nine
Engraved on The Wall because of those lies
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
They tried to save Pittsburgh from the Charley Cong
Honey, Honey
Died to save Pittsburgh from the Charley Cong
Babe, Babe
Fifty-eight thousand two hundred and nine
Engraved on The Wall because of those lies
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Gimme your left your right your left
Gimme your left your right your left.
Gotta save Pittsburgh from the Charley Cong
Honey, Honey
Gotta save Pittsburgh from the Charley Cong
Babe, Babe
They say if Nam goes down like a domino
They'll be paddlin' up the O-hi-o-ooo
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
Honey, oh Baa-aa-by mine.
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