Lyndon Johnson told the nation

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1. I got a letter from LBJ it says this is your lucky day,

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it`s time to put your khaki trousers on.

Dm

Though it may be very queer, we`ve got no jobs to give you here,

Am E Am

so we are sending you to Vietnam.

F C Dm Em

Lyndon Johnson told the nation, have no fear of escalation,

E Am

I am trying everyone to please.

F C Dm Am

Though it is t really war, we`re sending 50,000 more,

E Am

to help save Vietnam from Vietnamese.

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2. I jumped off the old troop ship, I sank in mud up to my hips,

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I cursed it till the captain called me down.

Dm

Never mind how hard it`s raining, look at all the ground we`re gaining,

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just don`t take one step outside the town.

F C Dm Em

Lyndon Johnson told the nation, have no fear of escalation,

E Am

I am trying everyone to please.

F C Dm Am

Though it is t really war, we`re sending 60,000 more,

E Am

to help save Vietnam from Vietnamese.

Am Dm

3. Every night the local gentry slip out past the sleeping sentry,

Am E Am

they go out to join the old V C.

Dm

And in their nightly little dramas, they put on their black pyjamas,

Am E Am

and come launching mortar shells at me.

F C Dm Em

Lyndon Johnson told the nation, have no fear of escalation,

E Am

I am trying everyone to please.

F C Dm Am

Though it is t really war, we`re sending 70,000 more,

E Am

to help save Vietnam from Vietnamese.

Am Dm

4. We go round in helicopters like a bunch of big grasshoppers,

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hunting for the Vietcong in vain.

Dm

They left a note that they had gone, they had to get back to Saigon,

Am E Am

their government positions to maintain.

F C Dm Em

Lyndon Johnson told the nation, have no fear of escalation,

E Am

I am trying everyone to please.

F C Dm Am

Though it is t really war, we`re sending 80,000 more,

E Am

to help save Vietnam from Vietnamese.

Am Dm

5. Here I sit in this rice-paddy, wondering about Big Daddy,

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and I know that Lyndon loves me so.

Dm

Yet how sadly I remember, way back yonder in November,

Am E Am

when he said I`d never have to go.

F C Dm Em

Lyndon Johnson told the nation, have no fear of escalation,

E Am

I am trying everyone to please.

F C Dm Am

Though it is t really war, we`re sending 100,000 more,

E Am

to help save Vietnam from Vietnamese.

(Tom Paxton)