Patty Smith Gung Ho
On a field of red one gold starRaised above his head Raised above his head He was not like any other He was just like any otherAnd the song they bledWas a hymn to him Awake my little one The seed of revolution Sewn in the sleeveOf cloth humbly worn Where others are adorned Above the northern plainThe great birds flyWith great wings Over the paddy fields And the people kneelAnd the men they toil Yet not for their own And the children are hungry And the wheel groans There before a grass hut A young boy stood His mother lay deadHis sisters cried for bread And within his young heartThe seed of revolution sewn In cloth humbly wornWhile others are adorned And he grew into a man Not like any otherJust like any other One small man A beard the color of rice A face the color of teaWho shared the misery Of other men in chains With shackles on his feet Escaped the guillotine Who fought againstColonialism imperialism Who remained awake While others slept Who penned like Jefferson Let independence ring And the cart of justice turns Slow and bitterly And the people were crying Plant that seed that seedAnd they crawled on their bellies Beneath the giant beast And filled the carts with bodies Where once had been their crops And the great birds swarmSpread their wings overhead And his mother deadAnd the typhoons and the rain The jungles in flames And the orange sun None could be more beautifulThan Vietnam Nothing was more beautifulThan Vietnam And his heart stopped beating And the wheel kept turningAnd the words he bled Were a hymn to them I have served the whole peopleI have served my whole country And as I leave this worldMay you suffer union And my great affectionLimitless as skyFilled with golden stars The question is raised Raised above his head Was he of his word Was he a good man For his image fills the southern heart With none but bitterness And the people keep crying And the men keep dyingAnd it's so beautifulSo beautiful Give me one more turnGive me one more turn One more turn of the wheel One more revolution One more turn of the wheel
