Goodnight Saigon

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

From:   Peter Eybert [pjoe@charon.muc.de]
Sent:   Saturday, January 03, 1998 8:54 AM

Song:   Goodnight Saigon 

by Billy Joel
from "The Nylon Curtain",1982
transcribed by Peter Eybert 




 F  
 Dm  
 Bb  
 G    
           
 Dm            
 Dm7    
 C       
We met as soul mates on Parris Island,
           
 Dm           
 Dm7 
 C
we left as inmates from an asylum.
            
 Em    
 Am           
 Em     
 Am
And we were sharp, as sharp as knives
            
 Dm            Dm/C         
 G       
 C 
 G
and we were so gung-ho to lay down our lives.

           
 Dm           
 Dm7      
 C
We came in spastic like tameless horses,
           
 Dm         
 Dm7      
 C
we left in plastic as numbered corpses.
               
 Em  
 Am         
 Em     
 Am
And we learned fast to travel light, 
              
 Dm            
 C            
 Bb      
 G  
 Dm  
 G 
our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight.

          
 Dm             
 Dm7    
 C
We had no home front, we had no soft soap.
             
 Dm            
 Dm7     
 C
They sent us Playboy, they gave us Bob Hope.
          
 Em 
 Am            
 Em     
 Am
We dug in deep and shot on sight
              
 Dm                
 F          
 G       
 C 
 G
and prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might.

          
 Dm         
 Dm7       
 C
We had no cameras to shoot the landscape
              
 Dm            
 Dm7        
 C
we passed the hash pipe and played our Doors tapes.
           
 Em  
 Am           
 Em     
 Am
And it was dark, so dark at night
            
 Dm                     Dm/C           
and we held on to each other, like brother to brother,
   
 Bb           F6/A         
 G
we promised our mothers we'd write.

             
 F      
 Bb     
 C       
 C7
And we would all go down together,
             
 F      
 Bb     
 C       
 C7
we said we'd all go down together,
              
 F      
 Bb     
 G       
 F 
 Dm 
 C
yes, we would all go down together.

         
 Dm          
 Dm7   
 C
Remember Charlie, remember Baker,
                
 Dm           
 Dm7   
 C
they left their childhood on every acre.
            
 Em   
 Am            
 Em     
 Am
And who was wrong? And who was right?
          
 Dm            
 C            
 Bb     
 G
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight.


 Am 
 Em       
 C   
 Dm     
 E    
 Dm 
 Dm7 
 E
We held the day in the palm of our hand.

 Am   
 Em        
 C     
 Dm      
 E     
 Dm         C+
They ruled the night and the night seemed to  last

 E  
 C    
 E  
 Dm           
 Dm7    
 C
as long as six weeks on Parris Island.
            
 Dm              
 Dm7      
 C
We held the coastline, they held the highlands,
              
 Em    
 Am           
 Em     
 Am
and they were sharp, as sharp as knives,
               
 Dm                  Dm/C            
they heard the hum of motors, they counted the rotors
    
 Bb         F6/A     
 G
and waited for us to arrive.

             
 F      
 Bb     
 C       
 C7
And we would all go down together,
             
 F      
 Bb     
 C       
 C7
we said we'd all go down together,
              
 F      
 Bb     
 G       
 F 
 Dm 
 Bb
yes, we would all go down together.


 G  
 F 
 Dm 
 Bb ...

(C+ = 032110)

-- 
pjoe@charon.muc.de