There's commotion at the wharf
All to see a warship off
That seeks a small assistance in the escalation game
They promised in our name
There's commotion at the wharf
All to say they won the battle
For our land of the Wattle
So at Canberra great commitments are promised in our name
Bombs are showered in our name
Who doesn't feel shame?
Don't listen to what these Yankees say
Protest if you can
We'll drive them from our land
Demand negotiations or we'll all be blown away.
Some say there was a time of a bravery sublime
For on our own we could not have saved the Coral Sea
But the years have passed and gone
Another kind of war is on
Now they say that we should stabilize
Dictator Marshall Ky
The Vancouver will be floating across the Southern Ocean
While many of our countrymen couldn't give a damn
They say us folks down under shouldn't stop to wonder
About the nature of relations that we have with Uncle Sam
They're here to show their strength
With this vessel of great length
To celebrate amongst us this anniversary
Meanwhile, our army boys are used as pawns and toys
To stem a revolution as foreign mercenaries
All to see a warship off
That seeks a small assistance in the escalation game
They promised in our name
There's commotion at the wharf
All to say they won the battle
For our land of the Wattle
So at Canberra great commitments are promised in our name
Bombs are showered in our name
Who doesn't feel shame?
Don't listen to what these Yankees say
Protest if you can
We'll drive them from our land
Demand negotiations or we'll all be blown away.
Some say there was a time of a bravery sublime
For on our own we could not have saved the Coral Sea
But the years have passed and gone
Another kind of war is on
Now they say that we should stabilize
Dictator Marshall Ky
The Vancouver will be floating across the Southern Ocean
While many of our countrymen couldn't give a damn
They say us folks down under shouldn't stop to wonder
About the nature of relations that we have with Uncle Sam
They're here to show their strength
With this vessel of great length
To celebrate amongst us this anniversary
Meanwhile, our army boys are used as pawns and toys
To stem a revolution as foreign mercenaries
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Mansell composed the song "The S.S. Vancouver", although no recording has been identified at the moment. The lyrics of this song featured in The Vietnam Songbook published in 1969, and compiled by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber (founders of Paredon Records) - containing 100+ Vietnam War protest songs, 9 of which came from Australia & New Zealand.
According to the notes in the book:
The title dropped the "U", leaving just the "S.S.", a reference to the infamous Nazi paramilitary group. The U.S.S. Vancouver (LPD-2) was an amphibious transport dock, commissioned on 11 May 1963, and deployed at various point in the Vietnam War. In April, 1965, it departed Huế, South Vietnam, having off-loaded marines there. It arrived in Sydney on 1 May 1965, taking part in the The Battle of the Coral Sea commemoration, which recalled World War Two naval engagements off the north-east coast of Australia (4-8 May 1942), between the US and Australia, against the Japanese.
Vietnam War Song Project #18