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Khe Sanh (song)
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"Khe Sanh" is an Australian pub rock song, released as a 45 rpm single in May 1978, and named after the Battle of Khe Sanh (1968) during the Vietnam War. The song, performed by Cold Chisel, having been written by pianist Don Walker and featuring the vocals of Jimmy Barnes, is about a bitter and disillusioned Australian Vietnam veteran. According to Toby Creswell's liner notes for the band's 1991 compilation album Chisel, the song is also a story of restless youth.
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The remaining verses describe the singer's aimless drifting after his return to Australia: womanising, post traumatic stress disorder, addiction to speed and Novocaine, getting work on oil rigs and flying helicopters.
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Encyclopedia
"Khe Sanh" is an Australian pub rock song, released as a 45 rpm single in May 1978, and named after the Battle of Khe Sanh (1968) during the Vietnam War. The song, performed by Cold Chisel, having been written by pianist Don Walker and featuring the vocals of Jimmy Barnes, is about a bitter and disillusioned Australian Vietnam veteran. According to Toby Creswell's liner notes for the band's 1991 compilation album Chisel, the song is also a story of restless youth.
Lyrics
The mood of the song is typified by its first verse:
- I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh
- And my soul was sold with my cigarettes to the black market man
- I've had the Vietnam cold turkey
- From the ocean to the Silver City
- And it's only other vets could understand
The remaining verses describe the singer's aimless drifting after his return to Australia: womanising, post traumatic stress disorder, addiction to speed and Novocaine, getting work on oil rigs and flying helicopters. He has travelled the world: "I've been back to South East Asia but the answer sure ain't there". The final refrain is "Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone", as the singer heads to Hong Kong for casual sex.
Popularity
"Khe Sanh" is one of the most popular songs ever recorded by an Australian act and one generally seen as a resonant symbol of Australian culture. The record reached number four in the band's home town of Adelaide but peaked on the national sales charts at number 43. In August 1978, censors gave it an A Classification, meaning that it was "not suitable for airplay", due to sex and drug references (the line "their legs were often open, but their minds were always closed" was seen as particularly offensive). A single station in Adelaide defied this censorship, and was the instigator of the song's popularity.
In 2001, members of APRA, the Australasian music industry's peak body, put "Khe Sanh" at number eight in a poll of the all-time best Australian songs.. It has been covered many times, including by John Schumann in 2008. Schumann is notable for writing "I was only 19"(A Walk In The Light Green), the other iconic song about the Australian experience of the Vietnam war.
Versions
Two versions of the song were released. The first featured on the band's 1978 debut self-titled album. A second version was included on the international version of the 1980 album East. The newer version overlaid a new keyboard track over Ian Moss's slide guitar break and featured a slightly different vocal reading from Barnes. This second version was also the one featured on the original release of the Chisel album and has since become perhaps the better known rendition.
Ben Folds has performed the song during live Australian shows. Making fun of his inability to decipher the lyrics sung by the Australian Barnes, he begins by singing in unintelligible gibberish before handing over to the crowd to sing the remainder of the song, accompanied by Folds on the piano.
Adam Brand includes the chorus of Khe Sanh at the very end of his single 'Comin' From/Khe Sanh' from his 5th album 'Blame It On Eve'
Other details
The Battle of Khe Sanh was fought between US Marines and the North Vietnamese Army. The only Australian personnel to be directly involved in the siege were the crews of Canberra bombers operated by 2 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, who flew close air support missions in the area.
"Sanh" is often misspelled (even, at times, on official album covers and sleeve notes) as "Sahn".
During the Australian cricket team's tour of the Caribbean in 1995, the players accorded "Khe Sanh" the status of an unofficial team song and sang it frequently.
A notable cover of the song is Australian singer/songwriter Paul Kelly's rendering of the song as a bluegrass/country number, featuring a stripped down musical style with largely spoken lyrics.
Khe Sanh has also been mentioned in another frequently-misinterpreted song. Bruce Springsteen's 1984 hit "Born in the USA" includes the sentence: "Had a brother at Khe Sanh". Springsteen pronounces it to rhyme with "gone" rather than with "man", as the Cold Chisel version does.
The line in the song that mentions the Silver City is a reference to Broken Hill, a city in far-western New South Wales.
Recording credits
See also
External links
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