Lyrics

We met as soulmates

On Parris Island

We left as inmates

From an asylum

And we were sharp

As sharp as knives

And we were so gung ho to lay down our lives.

We came in spastic

Like tameless horses

We left in plastic

As numbered corpses

And we learned fast

To travel light

Our arms were heavy but our bellies were tight

We had no homefront

We had no soft soap

They sent us playboy

They gave us bob hope

We dug in deep

And shot on sight

And prayed to Jesus Christ with all of our might.

We had no cameras

To shoot the landscape

We passed the hash pipe

And played our Doors tapes

And it was dark..

So dark at night

And we held onto each other

Like brother to bother

We promised our mothers we'd write

And we would all go down together

We said we'd all go down together

Yes we would all go down together.

Remember Charlie?

Remember Baker?

They left their childhood

On every acre

And who was wrong,

And who was right?

It didn't matter in the thick of the fight

We, held the day

In the palm of our hands

They, ruled the night

And the night, seemed to last as long as six weeks

On Parris Island

We held the coastline

They held the highland

And they were sharp

As sharp as knives

They heard the hum of the mortars

They counted the rotors

And waited for us to arrive

And we would all go down together

We said we'd all go down together

Yes we would all go down together.

Question

The theme of Goodnight Saigon is the poor treatment Vietnam War veterans received. The lyrics are about Marines in battle bonding together, fighting their fears and trying to figure out how to survive

Billy wrote this because he want to show how the soldier received poor treatment. He also trying to show that they work hard, fight together.

The song was released in 1983

Billy Joel also wrote Matter of Trust, All about souls, Allentown and more.