1969 Song of the Day is- Vietnam- by Jimmy Cliff. Cliff was inspired to write this song which appeared on his self-titled album in 1969- by a letter he received from a friend who was serving in the war in Vietnam. He has said that his friend who was a great artist- got drafted, went to Vietnam and the experiences he had changed him forever- that he didn’t even recognize Cliff when he got back- that it was like he was dead. In the song the soldier died- in real life he made it home but had been forever changed. The song wasn’t a hit in the US- it didn’t even crack the Hot 100 but it did go to #15 in Germany, 26 on the Dutch charts and #46 in the UK. Paul Simon said he was inspired by Vietnam -to write Mother And Child Reunion. A fella named Bob Dylan who wrote a few protest songs back in the day- once called “Vietnam” the best protest song ever.
Although Milhous Nixon while campaigning for the presidency in 1968 claimed to have a secret plan to end the war- in 1969 he was in office- and the war was certainly still dragging on with no end in sight- 11, 780 Americans would die that year in Vietnam- the second worst year for deaths in Vietnam behind 1968.
slicethelife 
Nixon’s secret plan was carpet bombing. Bomb the hell out of everything.
A 2017 movie, Last Flag Flying, so poignantly covers the aftermath of ‘Nam and brings it to the present and how it continues…
I haven’t seen that movie- I remember the previews- will look for it.
I thought it looked a little to formulaic for me, but when I saw it on the rack at the library I decided to check it out. It’s good for anyone who has any association with, or interest in the effects of, war.
P.S. I’m wondering why it wasn’t a hit here, if barriers were put in it getting onto the air?
I don’t know you would have thought it would have went over well considering the political climate at that time.