Story Behind The Song

This song was written for our brother-in-law, who served in Viet Nam, working at the Air Force base that loaded Agent Orange onto the planes. He now has been diagnosed with Progressive Supra Nuclear Palsy, is totally disabled, and living in a nursing home since he was 58 years old.

Lyrics

TROUBLE LINGERS ON

When I said goodbye
To Viet Nam
The sky was as blue
As my newborn baby's eyes.

I kissed my baby
And I kissed my wife.
All I could think about was
Getting on with our new life.

But back at home the mood was changing...
People marching and people blaming.
They couldn't bear the blood that it cost
I made it home, but the war was lost.

Troubled times, troubled minds,
Life goes on, I tried to leave it behind.
All these years have come and gone
But trouble lingers on.

When I look back
On that year...
The damage done...
Now it's all so clear.

We opened up the barrels
And loaded up the planes.
They flew above the jungle
And let the poison fall like rain.

We proudly served, but sealed our fate.
There was no way to know that it would end this way.
Now these years have come and gone
But the trouble lingers on.

Now my hands can't work
And my feet can't walk.
I'd say what's on my mind
But my lips can't talk.

But I remember the day
That I left Viet Nam.
You know the sky was as blue
As my newborn baby's eyes...