Billy Joel - Goodnight Saigon

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#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
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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