Escrita por Billy Joel, foi gravada entre o inverno de 1981 e a
primavera de 1982 em New York City e lançada em 23 de setembro de 1982, no
disco The nylon Curtain, o oitavo disco de Billy Joel. Saiu também em compacto,
fevereiro de 1983, com A room o four own como Lado B. Foi produzida por Phil
Ramone. Fala sobre a guerra do Vietnã. Fala dos soldados sendo treinados no
começo até os diferentes aspectos do combate. Fala mais especificamente dos
Marines em batalha. E seus laços de lealdade. E tentando sobreviver. O narrador é um marine. Usa sempre
nós em vez de eu. Na bridge, o medo a escuridão. O refrão dá enfase a
camaradagem entre eles. Imagens
da Guerra fala em ler a revista Playboys, ver Bob Hope, escutar The Doors,
fumar hash pipe, rezar pra Jesus e lembrar de Charlie e Baker, entre outras
imagens. A canção começa com grilos pra dar uma idéia de que a noite está
chegando. Depois escutamos o som daqueles wind pipes que tem fora das casas pra
dizer que a noite chegou. Deppis ouvimos helicópteros e no final essa sequencia
acontece ao contrário até os grilos se calarem e a canção terminar. Chegou ao
número 56 no Billboard Hot 100, número 29 no Reino Unido e número 1 na Bélgica
e Holanda e número 19 na Irlanda.
A letra:
We met as soul mates 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 tame-less 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 home front, 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 on to each other, like brother to brother
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 highlands
And they were sharp, as sharp as knives
They heard the hum of our motors, they counted the rotors
And waited for us to arrive
And we will all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Yes, we would all go down together
A versão de
Billy Joel:
A versão de
Garth Brooks:
A versão de
Michael Cavanaugh:
