The War Correspondent

Annotation — Australian & New Zealand Songs

Eric Bogle, a contemporary folk artist born in Scotland, who then moved permanently to Australia in 1969. He is especially well-known as the composer of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", an anti-war track, which looked back at the Australian war experience in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 (World War One), while making a contemporary note about the younger generation, in reference to the Vietnam War. A recording of this song featured on this album. Also on this album was the track "The War Correspondent" (Larrikin Records # LRF 041) which looked at the perspective of an Australian war journalist. It started with the news anchor introduction: "our special correspondent in Saigon, says three Australian soldiers have died in Vietnam". The lyrics were somewhat critical of the journalist for not taking a moral stand: "objectively you watch the war... not being paid to moralize". Soldiers were dying, yet the newspersons were presenting a program: "see the show, T.V. soldiers in a row... watch them run, see them die", as the reporter learned "how to live with death, suffering and fear". But the narrator pondered on the actual impact: "the man that was before Vietnam can never be again".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Good evening ' I'm Ross Symons, with the news from A.B.C. / A record profit's been announced by the Board of B.H.P. / In the second cricket test in Perth, the Aussies face defeat / Whilst the drought in Western New South Wales means dearer cuts of meat / And our special correspondent in Saigon / Says three Australian soldiers have died in Vietnam / The special correspondent sat in a Saigon bar / With the help of Johnny Walker he pushed away the war / And questions with no answers that had rattled round his head / Had lost their urgent clarity and were faded round the edge / Thought tomorrow they'd again be sharp and clear / Tonight they had been lost amongst the bar girls and the beer / Ask a silly question, like why the hell we're here / Learning how to live with death, suffering and fear / War's a game for soldiers; it's not for men like you / Is there something that you have to find, or something you must prove / Or are you hooked upon the adrenaline / That living on the edge of dying brings But here you are in Vietnam; you're a long way from home / Doing what you're paid to do, the best way that you can / Objectively you watch the war, never taking sides / And what you feel, what you really feel, is hidden deep inside / You're not being paid to moralize / And anyway, a can lose his reason asking why / And if you ever get back home, you'll never be the same / The man that was before Vietnam can never be again / But in ten years when you look back to weigh and…

About the artist

Eric Bogle - contemporary folk singer-songwriter born 23 September 1944 in Peebles, Scotland; settled in Australia in 1969; writer of "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda".

Themes

Journalist · TV War · Saigon · ANZUS · Combat

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs