Artist: Tom Paxton
Title: Lyndon Johnson told the nation

Capo on the 7th Fret

AmI (x02210@1)got a letter from L.B.J 
   DmIt (xx0231@1)said, "This is your lucky day" 
     Am (x02210@1)              E7 (020130@1)          Am (x02210@1)  E7It's (020130@1)time to put your khaki trousers on
Am (x02210@1)Though it may seem very queer 
      DmWe've (xx0231@1)got no jobs to give you here 
   Am (x02210@1)           E7 (020130@1)        AmSo (x02210@1)we are sending you to Vietnam

F (133211@1)            CAnd (x32010@1)Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
 Dm (xx0231@1)             AmHave (x02210@1)no fear of escalation 
             E7 (020130@1)         AmI (x02210@1)am trying everyone to please 
F (133211@1)              CThough (x32010@1)it isn't really war 
 Dm (xx0231@1)               AmWe're (x02210@1)sending fifty thousand more
              E7 (020130@1)               Am (x02210@1)  E7 (020130@1)To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese



I jumped off the old troop ship 
And sank in mud up to my hips 
I cussed until the captain called me down 
Never mind how hard it's raining 
Think of all the ground we're gaining 
Just don't take one step outside of town

And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
Have no fear of escalation 
I am trying everyone to please 
Though it isn't really war 
We're sending sixty thousand more 
To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese

Every night the local gentry 
Slip out past the sleeping sentry 
They go to join the old V.C. 
In their nightly little dramas 
They put on their black pajamas 
And come lobbing mortar shells at me

And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
Have no fear of escalation 
I am trying everyone to please 
Though it isn't really war 
We're sending seventy thousand more 
To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese

We go round in helicopters 
Like a bunch of big grasshoppers 
Searching for the Viet Cong in vain 
They left a note that they had gone 
They had to get down to Saigon 
Their government positions to maintain

Well, here I sit in this rice paddy 
Wondering about Big Daddy 
And I know that Lyndon loves me so 
Yet how sadly I remember 
Way back yonder in November 
When he said I'd never have to go

And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
Have no fear of escalation 
I am trying everyone to please 
Though it isn't really war 
We're sending a hundred thousand more 
To help save Vietnam from the Vietnamese