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
     Lyndon Johnson told the nation, 
      Dm              Am
     "Have no fear of escalation, 
                 E7          Am      A7
     I am trying everyone to please. 
     F               C
     Though it isn't really war, 
           Dm            Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
                      E7              Am
     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
     Lyndon Johnson told the nation, 
      Dm              Am
     "Have no fear of escalation, 
                 E7          Am      A7
     I am trying everyone to please. 
     F               C
     Though it isn't really war, 
           Dm            Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
                      E7              Am
     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
     But Lyndon Johnson told the nation, 
      Dm              Am
     "Have no fear of escalation, 
                 E7          Am      A7
     I am trying everyone to please. 
     F               C
     Though it isn't really war, 
           Dm            Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
                      E7              Am
     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      A7
     I am trying everyone to please. 
     F               C
     Though it isn't really war, 
           Dm            Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
                      E7              Am
     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
     But Lyndon Johnson told the nation, 
      Dm              Am
     "Have no fear of escalation, 
                 E7          Am      A7
     I am trying everyone to please. 
     F               C
     Though it isn't really war, 
           Dm            Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
                      E7              Am
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."

[Verse 6]
Am
The word came from the very top
     Dm
That soon the shooting war would stop
    Am           E7               Am    E7
The pockets of resistance were so thin.
      Am
There just remained some trouble spots
     Dm
Like Vietnam, Detroit & Watts
Am                E7     Am
Gene McCarthy and Ho Chi Minh.

   [Chorus]
          F              C
     But Lyndon Johnson told the nation, 
      Dm              Am
     "Have no fear of escalation, 
                 E7          Am      A7
     I am trying everyone to please. 
     F               C
     Though it isn't really war, 
           Dm            Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
                      E7              Am
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."

[Verse 7]
Am
They sent me to some swampy hole,
   Dm
We went out on a night patrol,
     Am              E7           Am    E7
Just who was who was very hard to tell,
     Am
With Martha Raye and 13 mayors,
Dm
Half of Congress, 6 ball players,
    Am            E7                 Am
And Ronald Reagan yelling, "Give 'em hell!"

   [Chorus]
          F              C
     And Lyndon Johnson told the nation, 
      Dm              Am
     "Have no fear of escalation, 
                 E7          Am      A7
     I am trying everyone to please. 
     F               C
     Though it isn't really war, 
           Dm            Am
     We're sending fifty thousand more
                      E7              Am
     To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."