Lyrics Tom Paxton – Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation

I got a letter from L. B. J.
It said this is your lucky day.
It’s time to put your khaki trousers on.
Though it may seem very queer

Chorus:
Lyndon Johnson told the nation,
«Have no fear of escalation.
I am trying everyone to please.
Though it isn’t really war,
We’re sending fifty thousand more,
To help save Viet nam from Viet Namese.»

I jumped off the old troop ship,
And sank in mud up to my hips.
I cussed until the captain called me down.
Never mind how hard it’s raining,
Think of all the ground we’re gaining,
Just don’t take one step outside of town.

Chorus

Every night the local gentry,
Sneak out past the sleeping sentry.
They go to join the old VC.
In their nightly little dramas,
They put on their black pajamas,
And come lobbing mortar shells at me.

Chorus

We go round in helicopters,
Like a bunch of big grasshoppers,
Searching for the Viet Cong in vain.

Chorus

Well here I sit in this rice paddy,
Wondering about Big Daddy,
And I know that Lyndon loves me so.
Yet how sadly I remember,
Way back yonder in November,
When he said I’d never have to go.

Chorus