McLean, Don - The Grave Lyrics

My was shot into the belly in 1944. He was 19 years old then.

'Mixed- up Janes, and mixed- up Joes...'And now, after, for 'goreNglory,' for legacy!(the- spoils...)

'In a world, of dispensable girls, N neglected boys...'I'll be going, to the park today!(NEW YORK CITY) 'For all the fighting U've done, I still have, to arm- myself! 'Ur. parents did this, to U!(('and, to me.../ our parents(?)) 'I wonder, if they see, just, what I see: you are beautiful!('just beautiful...) 'Maybe U are in Valhalla😊 I've suffered in ways U could never imagine!(I wonder, exactly, who's in this abscess?/ 'The Grave')

I know he probably wrote this about the Vietnam war but walking through the 1st WW French battlefields always reminded me of this song. Those brave soldiers had to battle the Somme mud and the enemy. Must have been miserable.

"He crouched ever lower, ever lower with fear
They can't let me die, they can't let me die here..."

Those words are like a knife to my heart.

I cried through this whole song. May God forgive me for the things I have done. I hurt everyday.

We all do, probably. It's called being human. :)

astounding

May we find peace, more than that of our gravestones and gained by more than that of the death of others.
May our lord have a greater mercy on our souls than we have on another.

I have been listening to this regularly over the years and it chokes me up every time. Don Maclean's words are just so visual no wonder Roberta Flack sang about him

Ikr. I just don't know how anybody, even the most belligerent among us, could fail to grieve at this song. My favourite Mclean song by far.

"...killing me softly with his words..."

this was the first song that made me cry

The most powerful song i' listened too.. and saddest too.

Now this is music. The chart trash that my generation listens to makes me cringe..

Happy 4th of July.

VISIT YOUR LOCAL VA HOSPITALS. SOME MEN HAVEN'T SEEN ANYONE DIFFERENT IN YEARS.

One of the greatest crimes of the 20th century was the drafting of kids of 19 or so - at that point not even considered old enough to vote in many countries - to fight in wars like Vietnam. They used to execute people for treason - this was much worse than treason and all of the Politicians behind this crime deserved to be treated as criminals of the worst kind.

My father was wounded 3.000 km from home at the age of 19 in Romania. And yes, he could not vote in 1944.

So sad we have war I pray for the day we all just get along and help each other be true humans together

@wilkol31 Now we induce them to volunteer but when the combat cases come back I seee them at the VA hospital just as damaged as the rest of us--like me, Vietnam, back to WWII. God Bless them all.

Until we get rid of the banks and the political hacks that work for them, our soldiers will continue to die.

how sad I feel for these young men average age 19 who gave their lives for their country and now they are forgotten by the State with only their name on a wall.  Who really started that war? - it was not the Vietnamese. Don Mclean should sing this everytime he performs so their country does NOT forget what a mistake that war was.

Dude we were trying to stop a communist regime from killing the south, it was a good thing but poorly executed due to hippies pressuring the government witch led to no supply being dropped and getting them killed.

Released9825 May I suggest you visit Vietnam which as been a one party communist state since 1975and has one of SE Asia’s fastest growing economies and PEACE. The wounds of what they call the American War are still visible and that was the legacy the USA left - along with the deaths of many of your country’s youth.....for what?

This must be about the Great war 1914-1918 .Its a hundred years on

@megaEDWIN3 I essentially agree. See my comment above.

No. Its about any war that we fight . We fight because politicians have failed. And when they fail, we put boots on the ground.

It was written with the Vietnam War in mind, but like all great art, it has universal validity.

as a maine about to retire in 2015 i understand how hard this is.

@Adam Kraemer I susp that in 1971 he wanted to make a statement about the futility of war and death without making it about Vietnam, which NO ONE wanted to hear about. I was an advisor during the 1972 Spring Offensive.
Over the period March to July the NVA Army was crushed, losing 95,000 at An Loc alone. The South fought this battle themselves with some American advisors and combined American and ARVN air support and did very well. Yet there was little about it back home. Didn't fit the agenda.

Nothing but respect to you Adam. Hope your adjusting well.

I cannot listen to this without weeping.  I grew up during the Vietnam war era and if it taught me anything it's that we must only send our precious soldiers to war for the most important and unavoidable reasons...

+Maya North very true. now it is an industry that thrives off of conflict, we havent seen a warless world in 2000 years, and the US hasnt stayed out of war for over 200. very sad state of affairs

I think if you purchase a book titled "cocaine politics" you will understand our government. and that we the people no longer matter to them. The book really highlights our CIA bringing in the cocaine in exchange for guns for the Noriega war, but the story is the same. Same as Vietnam when the CIA was trafficking heroin back to the states from the  Chinese triangle by putting it inside the bodies of dead G.I.'s and flying them home.

If you only knew....

Thanks to all the vets especially the ones who didn't have a choice

I have seen Don McLean live one time. He is very underrated. So much joy and sadness in one evening , so much emotions i had there. A true talent he is , i just love his personality , how can people enjoy music from nowadays if u have this to listen too , ill never get it.

I mourn the deaths of the Nazi soldiers as much as I mourn the deaths of British and American and French soldiers. When we die, we no longer have a race to belong to. We belong to the earth because the earth is our grave.

Beautiful song.

DamienHurts I realize it's been years but your words almost made me cry just now.

Fuck Nazi's

@Seth Cheshire the average German soldier didn't follow the nazi idealogy. Mostly they were just boys and young men sent to fight for their country. Field Marshal Rommel - arguably the greatest general of his day - was not a nazi despite being a senior commander of the German Army, and was implicated in the plot to kill Hitler.
Not all Germans were nazis, and not all nazis are German

Too late! Where going to Syria!

Like it or not, "leaders" don't hear or understand the meaning of this cry. The soldier has the meaning of a molecule in the grand material of power. Always has been. Always will be.

history has a horrible habit of repeating itself. let's just hope the powers that be see sense and we are not sucked into yet another pointless war which will mean terrible loss of lives on all sides.

They play American Pie, Vincent ad nauseum on radio. This is his best. People should avoid govt propaganda on both sides, then we will have peace

All the nations leaders of the world need to listen to this song over and over and may be just may be, if they care, someone in a powerful position will realise that war solves nothing.

Now -this- is a good one to mix with Rainymood.

watch?v=g1FL9O75BsE my version of the song

My Dance Academy did a routine to this song in dedication to our soldiers <3

O__O This is one of the most beautiful sung poems I've ever heard... i've got tears in my eyes!

yes I think you are right !

the song '1967' by don mclean has similar wording. perhaps that is the song you are thinking of.

George micheal can sing this better, but still i love the songs

This song is a masterpiece. Never must we forget those who sacrificed themselves for the free world

Among my favorite albums was American Pie. This song always resonated with me.....for unknown reasons.....I even took to singing it Acapulco on porches and in hollers of Middle Tennessee, once upon a time.

This is such a sad song... yet, so beatiful.

I had the pleasure of meeting Don after a concert he did at the casino I was working at in Vegas in '99. He was signing autographs & answering questions, so when it came my turn, I asked him if he still sang "The Grave" (I had seen him a few times, & never heard him sing this live) He looked at me & gave me a definitive "No". I said, "Ah, that's too bad, it's such a powerful song". He signed my ticket stub, shook my hand & went on to the next person. Your video is wonderfully done. Thanks.

Why would you ask Him that? Do you even know what the song means? Shit, Man,, get your act together.

Loved the comment by Churchill at 2:30; He Should Know, ie Poland, 1945, Yalta..
But I don't think your interpretation of the remark, or the events, is quite the same as mine.... I am glad that many survived to return to their own lands, but did most of them Learn from their experiences?. I fear not.

Where is the viet Nam song that has "I got a Cold Shoulder"? I think it was Don mclean...But can noit find it ant where
thanx!

watching all those war scenes reminded me of 33 years ago. I was not at Vietnam but I was in a civil war. Now the friends I fought for are in the hands of a despot forced on them by world powers. Sorry if I don't think it was all worth it.

I was listening to a few songs tonight, to connect again... This is one of the three songs that epitomized the whole thing for me. I'll list them again in this post:

1) Good Night Saigon - Billy Joel
2) The Grave - Don McClean
3) If I Die - Rare Earth

I can't think of 3 songs that say more about the Vietname war, except...
"Well it's 1, 2, 3, 4 What are we fighting for?
Don't ask I don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam...."

you know the rest. God bless our boys and girls.

k9sjose . Yours is no disgrace by Yes, was written for the soldiers in Vietnam.

Had to laugh at the Wiki leaks documents showing Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia looking for the destruction of Iran's Nuclear efforts. Are they both not Islamic countries.? Can they not trust each other? 14 of the 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi and Iran spends it's time arming Hezbollah. Maybe I am confused but I thought "Islam" was the religion of peace.

I always check the passenger list to make sure there are no Ali's or Mohammed's on board and so far it has worked a treat.

@PB111627 If religious freedom is dependent on the extent to which you disagree with people, you haven't understood the values that make the American Constitution such a great document.

Don't let Americans be killed so that the grave stone erected over them is called a mosque. Did George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Benjamin Franklin ever think that the day would arrive when religious freedom would be used as a bkunt weapon to disarm Americans of the right to resist the tyranny and hatred pedaled under the guise of Islam. How big does the message have to be? A religion that promises death and delivers death to all Americans. America is being destroyed from within.

I was listening first to this song in 1973 when I got the record as a present by a teacher staying in the USA for one year, I was 14 years old then, little did I know about the sufferings of war, but I was taking the decision not to go the army then, thanks to Don McLean, to my teacher and to you, I am glad you survived the hell of war

My father was in this war. I thank God every day he is still with us. Wounded five times, still loves and believes in this country. Beautiful song.

I had never heard this song before. I think it is a good video and fits ver well with the song. 5 stars!!!!!

You are probably too young to remember it. It was part of the "American Pie" LP, which was incredibly popular in 1971.