Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation Tom Paxton
I got a letter f[Em]rom LBJ it says this is your luc[Am]ky day,
[Em]it`s time to put your [B7]khaki trousers [Em]on.[E7]
[Am]Though it may be very queer, weâ??ve got no jobs to give you here,
[Em]so we are sending [B7]you to Vietn[Em]am.
Chorusd
[C]Lyndon Johnson told the n[G]ation, have no [Am]fear o[G]f escalation,
[B7]I am trying everyone[Em] to please.
[C]Though it is t re[G]ally war, we`re sending [Am]50,000 more,[Em]
[B7]to help save Vietnam from [Em]Vietnamese.
[Em]I jumped off the old troop ship,[Am] I sank in mud up to my hips,
[Em]I cursed it till the ca[B7]ptain called me d[Em]own.[E7]
[Am]Never mind how hard it`s ra[Em]ining, look at all the ground we`re gaining,
[Em]just don`t take one s[B7]tep outside the t[Em]own.
[C]Lyndon Johnson told the n[G]ation, have no [Am]fear o[G]f escalation,
[B7]I am trying everyone[Em] to please.
[C]Though it is t re[G]ally war, we`re sending [Am]60,000 more,[Em]
[B7]to help save Vietnam from [Em]Vietnamese.
[Em]Every night the local gentry slip o[Am]ut past the sleeping sentry,
[Em]they go out to join[B7] the old V [Em]C.
[Am]And in their nightly little drama[Em]s, they put on their black pyjamas,
[Am]and come launching [B7]mortar shells at[Em] me.
[C]Lyndon Johnson told the n[G]ation, have no [Am]fear o[G]f escalation,
[B7]I am trying everyone[Em] to please.
[C]Though it is t re[G]ally war, we`re sending [Am]70,000 more,[Em]
[B7]to help save Vietnam from [Em]Vietnamese.
[Em]We go round in helicopters like a bunch [Am]of big grasshoppers,
[Em]hunting for the V[B7]ietcong in va[Em]in.[E7]
[Am]They left a note that they had gone, [Em]they had to get back to Saigon,
[Em]their [B7]government positions to [Em]maintain.
[C]Lyndon Johnson told the n[G]ation, have no [Am]fear o[G]f escalation,
[B7]I am trying everyone[Em] to please.
[C]Though it is t re[G]ally war, we`re sending [Am]80,000 more,[Em]
[B7]to help save Vietnam from [Em]Vietnamese.
[Em]Here I sit in this rice-paddy, wondering [Am]about Big Daddy,
[Em]and I know that [B7]Lyndon loves me [Em]so.[E7]
[Am]Yet how sadly I remember[Em], way back yonder in November,
[Am]when he said I`d never ha[B7]ve to go.[Em]
[C]Lyndon Johnson told the n[G]ation, have no [Am]fear o[G]f escalation,
[B7]I am trying everyone[Em] to please.
[C]Though it is t re[G]ally war, we`re sending [Am]100,000 more[Em],
[B7]to help save Vietnam from [Em]Vietnamese.
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