He wakes up screaming He wakes up screaming He wakes up He wakes up in a cold sweat He dreams he's going to get a letter in the post Telling him he's been called up again They're calling up the national guard They'll send him back Send him back Back to Vietnam Back to Vietnam He's running in the jungle He's running with a bayonet With a machine gun And he's wild on LSD The enemy He can't see them But he knows they're there He's aware And all around He hears gunfire He's caught on fire He's so frightened He wakes up screaming He wakes up screaming He dreads the day A letter in the post Telling him they're calling back the national guard They'll send him back
Send him back Send him back Back to Vietnam They're bringing back conscription They're going to give everyone over seventeen a gun And the housewhife in the kitchen All she can think of Is what to give her husband for tea But he won't be back Do we have to go through it all again? It's all the same: Vietnam, Korea First World War, Argentina, Falkland Islands Another war, what is it for? Now he's in a home For Vietnam refugees He's frightened He's in an institution He's in a wheelchair War is the last creative act I thought we might of learned some lesson Richard Nixon on Channel Eleven I heard it first Happy birthday, happy Christmas Guns go bang bang