Goodnight Saigon

"Goodnight Saigon" is a song written by Billy Joel, originally appearing on his 1982 album The Nylon Curtain, about the Vietnam War. It depicts the situation and attitude of United States Marines beginning with their military training on Parris Island and then into different aspects of Vietnam combat.

"Goodnight Saigon"
Single by Billy Joel
from the album The Nylon Curtain
B-side"A Room of Our Own"
ReleasedFebruary 1983
RecordedFall 1982
Genre
Length7:03
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Billy Joel
Producer(s)Phil Ramone
Billy Joel singles chronology
"Allentown"
(1983)		 "Goodnight Saigon"
(1983)		 "Tell Her About It"
(1983)
Music video
"Goodnight Saigon" on YouTube

Lyrics and music

The lyrics of Goodnight Saigon are about Marines in battle bonding together, fighting their fears and trying to figure out how to survive.[1] The singer, a United States Marine, sings of "we" rather than "I", emphasizing that the Marines are all in the situation together.[1] In the bridge Joel sings of the darkness and the fear it induced in the Marines.[1] This leads into the refrain, which has multiple voices coming together to sing that the Marines will "all go down together", emphasizing their camaraderie.[1][2]

Images from the war captured in the song include reading Playboy, seeing Bob Hope, listening to The Doors, smoking from a hash pipe, praying to Jesus, remembering "Charlie" and "Baker", the Company identifiers used in military units, and those in those Companies who "left their childhood / on every acre", many of whom died in the fighting.[1][2] Joel has said that he "wasn't trying to make a comment on the war, but writing about the soldier as a person."[3][4] According to Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden, "As the song unfolds, Joel's "we" becomes every American soldier, living and dead, who fought in Southeast Asia."[2]

The song begins with the sound of crickets chirping, providing the feeling of evening coming,[1] the sound morphing into the tinkling of wind chimes at night. This leads into the sound of helicopters, which conjures up images of helicopters carrying their loads of Marines into battle in the Vietnam War or picking up wounded Marines.[1][2] Then Joel plays a figure on the piano before beginning to sing.[1][2] The opening is reversed at the end of the song, as the piano figure returns, followed by the sound of helicopters, then wind chimes, and finally the crickets, before the song comes to an end.[1]

Joel has said of the song:[5]

Time has a way of healing wounds or making them easier to look at to see if they've scabbed up. The guys came home from Vietnam and that's it? It doesn't end until these guys are absorbed into the mainstream and we deal with our feelings about it.

Critical reception

Holden describes the song as possibly "the ultimate pop-music epitaph to the Vietnam War."[2] He also praises the way Joel's voice captures the emotions of a 19-year-old soldier.[2] However, fellow Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh considers it bordering on "obscenity" that the song "refuses to take sides."[6] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine considers it part of a suite on side one of The Nylon Curtain that represents "layered, successful, mature pop that brings Joel tantalizingly close to his ultimate goal of sophisticated pop/rock for mature audiences."[7] Musician Garth Brooks has identified "Goodnight Saigon" as his favorite Billy Joel song.[4] Producer Phil Ramone has stated that the song's symbolism "resonates with many people—especially musicians."[4]

Other appearances

"Goodnight Saigon" is regularly featured in Joel's concerts and was included on the live albums Kontsert, 12 Gardens Live and Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert.[8] It has also been included on several compilation albums, including Greatest Hits, Souvenir: The Ultimate Collection, The Ultimate Collection, The Essential Billy Joel, Piano Man: The Very Best of Billy Joel and My Lives.[8]

A shortened version of "Goodnight Saigon" was sung by Will Ferrell in a Saturday Night Live sketch, on May 16, 2009, a sketch that also featured cameos by Green Day, Norm Macdonald, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Tom Hanks, Paul Rudd, Artie Lange, and Anne Hathaway, among others, as background musicians.

"Goodnight Saigon" was included in the play Movin' Out in a scene where one of the characters has a nightmare of his experiences fighting in Vietnam.[9]

The song was also covered by Garth Brooks and included on his 2013 box set, Blame it All on My Roots, which covers his various musical influences ("Saigon" was featured on the "Classic Rock" CD of the collection.) Brooks would also perform the song as a tribute to Joel when he received the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2014. The performance also featured a choir of Vietnam War veterans, who received a standing ovation from the audience.

Alan Cumming has included this song on his album Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs: Live At The Cafe Carlyle.. He sings it in memory of his grandfather, Tommy Darling.[10]

Charts
Chart (1983) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 1
Irish Singles Chart 19
UK Singles Chart 29
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 56

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Netherlands (NVPI)[14] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. Bielen, K. (2011). The Words and Music of Billy Joel. ABC-CLIO. pp. 59–60. ISBN 9780313380167.
  2. Holden, S. (October 14, 1982). "The Nylon Curtain". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  3. Bordowitz, H. (2006). Billy Joel: The Life & Times of an Angry Young Man. Random House. pp. 143–145. ISBN 9780823082483.
  4. Ramone, P. & Granata, C.L. (2007). Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music. Hyperion. p. 218. ISBN 9780786868599.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Campbell, Mary (October 30, 1982). "Bill Joel Uses Seven Fingers at the Piano". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. p. 12D. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  6. Marsh, D. (1983). Marsh, D.; Swenson, J. (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Rolling Stone Press. p. 260. ISBN 0394721071.
  7. Erlewine, S.T. "The Nylon Curtain". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  8. "Goodnight Saigon". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  9. Shearer, B.F. (2007). Home Front Heroes: A Biographical Dictionary of Americans During Wartime, Volume 2. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 444. ISBN 9780313334221.
  10. "Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs: Live at the Cafe Carlyle - Alan Cumming | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  11. "Ultratop.be – Billy Joel – Goodnight Saigon" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  12. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 5, 1983" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Billy Joel – Goodnight Saigon" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  14. "Dutch single certifications – Billy Joel – Goodnight Saigon" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved November 30, 2019. Enter Goodnight Saigon in the "Artiest of titel" box.
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