Tom Paxton - Talking Vietnam Potluck Blues lyrics

Spoken: "Ahhh... Let's do that again Do you believe that?" Well, when I landed in Vietnam I hardly got to see Saigon They shaped us up and called the roll and off we went on a long patrol Swappin' lies, swattin' flies, Firin' the odd shot here and there The Captain called a halt that night And we had chow by the pale moon light A lovely dinner they'd planned for us With a taste like a seat on a crosstown bus Some of the veterans just left theirs layin' in the can For the Viet Cong to find Deadlier than a land mine Hmmmm... Naturally somebody told a joke And a couple of the fellows began to smoke I took a whiff as the a cloud rolled by And my nose went up like an infield fly The Captain, this blonde fellow from Yale looked at me and said "What's a matter wit chu, baby?" (ghetto dialect) Well I may be crazy, but I think not; I swear to God that I smell pot! But who'd have pot in Vietnam? He said, "Whaddaya think you been sittin' on?" These funny little plants... Thousands of 'em. Good God Almighty! Pastures of plenty! So we all lit up and by and by The whole platoon was flyin' high With a beautiful smile on the Captain's face He smelled like midnight on St. Mark's Place Cleanin' his weapon, Chantin' sumpin' about Hari Krishna, Hari Krishna The moment came, As it comes to all When I had to answer nature's call I was stumbing around in a beautiful haze When I met a little cat in black pj's Rifle; ammo belt; BF Goodrich sandals He looked up at me and said "What's a matter wit chu, baby?" (sounding just like the Captain had) He said we're campin' down the pa** And smelled you people blowin' gra** And since, by the smell, you're smoking trash I brought you a taste of a special stash Straight from Uncle Ho's victory garden We call it Hanoi Gold. So his squad and my squad settled down Pa**in' lovely stuff around All too soon it was time to go The Captain got on the radio Said "Hello headquarters?, Helloo, ahh, Headquarters?? We have met the enemy and he has been smashed!"