4 Country Songs About the Vietnam War That Still Bring Tears to Listeners’ Eyes

When the Vietnam War was happening, everyone had something to say about it, including popular singer-songwriters. Here are a few country songs about the Vietnam War, from voices like Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and even Loretta Lynn.

“Singing In Viet Nam Talking Blues” by Johnny Cash

This song is written in the Talking Blues format. When he wrote this song, Johnny Cash described a trip he took with troops to Vietnam during his 1971 USO Tour. He was visiting to entertain the men there but was taken aback by what he saw.

Well, that night we did about four shows for the boys
And they were living it up with a whole lot of noise
We did our last song for the night
And we crawled into bed for some peace and quiet
But things weren’t peaceful, and things weren’t quiet
Things were scary.

“Vietnam Blues” by Kris Kristofferson

In “Vietnam Blues”, Kristofferson talks about a man who is about to go fight in the Vietnam War. He says in the song, “I don’t like dyin’ either, but man, I ain’t gonna crawl!“

“Some of the best people I know are people who volunteered for Vietnam,” Kristofferson explained in the video above. “I was totally seeing the world from the perspective of a soldier at that time.”

“Dear Uncle Sam” by Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn’s “Dear Uncle Sam” looks at the Vietnam War from a different perspective. That is, the wife of a soldier who had been called out to fight. Lynn has been known to talk about things that were not widely discussed in song at the time. Just take her song “The Pill”, for instance. This was one of the first songs in country music to talk about the war, but it actually served Lynn well in her career. “Dear Uncle Sam” became her second entry on the country charts, after “I’m A Honky Tonk Girl”.

“Hello Vietnam” by Johnny Wright

During a time when the Vietnam War was full steam ahead, it was Johnny Wright’s song, “Hello Vietnam”, that sat atop the Billboard chart. The song references the draft and a war that seems to be never-ending.

“Kiss me goodbye and write me while I’m gone / Goodbye my sweetheart, Hello Vietnam / America has heard the bugle call / And you know it involves us one and all / I don’t suppose that war will ever end / There’s fighting that will break us up again.”

Photo by: David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images

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