[Verse 1]
Am
I got a letter from L.b.J 
   Dm
It said, "This is your lucky day" 
     Am                E7            Am    E7
It's time to put your khaki trousers on
Am
Though it may seem very queer 
      Dm
We've got no jobs to give you here 
   Am             E7          Am
So we are sending you to Vietnam 
 
   [Chorus]
          F              C
     And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
      Dm               Am
     Have no fear of escalation 
                  E7           Am
     I am trying everyone to please 
     F                C
     Though it isn't really war 
      Dm                 Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
              E7                 Am    E7
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese 
 
 
[Verse 2]
Am
I jumped off the old troop ship 
   Dm
And sank in mud up to my hips 
     Am                E7            Am    E7
I cussed until the captain called me down 
Am
Never mind how hard it's raining 
      Dm
Think of all the ground we're gaining 
   Am             E7          Am
Just don't take one step outside of town 
 
   [Chorus]
          F              C
     And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
      Dm               Am
     Have no fear of escalation 
                  E7           Am
     I am trying everyone to please 
     F                C
     Though it isn't really war 
      Dm                 Am
     We're sending sixty thousand more
              E7                 Am    E7
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese 
 
[Verse 3]
Am
Every night the local gentry 
   Dm
Slip out past the sleeping sentry 
     Am                E7            Am    E7
They go to join the old V.C. 
Am
In their nightly little dramas 
      Dm
They put on their black pajamas 
   Am             E7          Am
And come lobbing mortar shells at me 
 
   [Chorus]
          F              C
     And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
      Dm               Am
     Have no fear of escalation 
                  E7           Am
     I am trying everyone to please 
     F                C
     Though it isn't really war 
      Dm                   Am
     We're sending seventy thousand more
              E7                 Am    E7
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese 
 
[Verse 4]
Am
We go round in helicopters 
   Dm
Like a bunch of big grasshoppers 
     Am                E7            Am    E7
Searching for the Viet Cong in vain 
Am
They left a note that they had gone 
      Dm
They had to get down to Saigon 
   Am             E7          Am
Their government positions to maintain 
 
   [Chorus]
          F              C
     And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
      Dm               Am
     Have no fear of escalation 
                  E7           Am
     I am trying everyone to please 
     F                C
     Though it isn't really war 
      Dm                     Am
     We're sending eighty thousand more
              E7                 Am    E7
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese 
 
[Verse 5]
Am
Well, here I sit in this rice paddy 
   Dm
Wondering about Big Daddy 
     Am                E7            Am    E7
And I know that Lyndon loves me so 
Am
Yet how sadly I remember 
      Dm
Way back yonder in November 
   Am             E7          Am
When he said I'd never have to go 
 
   [Chorus]
          F              C
     And Lyndon Johnson told the nation 
      Dm               Am
     Have no fear of escalation 
                  E7           Am
     I am trying everyone to please 
     F                C
     Though it isn't really war 
      Dm                     Am
     We're sending a hundred thousand more
              E7                 Am    E7
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese

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