Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation Tab par Tom Paxton

capo on 2nd fret for original 
[Verse 1]
Am
I got a letter from L.B.J.
   Dm
It said, "This is your lucky day,
     Am                E7            Am   E7
It's time to put your khaki trousers on.
Am
Though it may seem very queer,
      Dm
We've got no jobs to give you here,
   Am             E7         Am
So we are sending you to Vietnam."
 
[Chorus]
F              C
Lyndon Johnson told the nation
 Dm              Am
"Have no fear of escalation,
Am          E7          Am      A7
I am trying everyone to please.
F               C
Though it isn't really war,
      Dm            Am
We're sending fifty thousand more
   Am            E7              Am   E7
To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."
 
[Verse 2]
Am
I jumped off the old troop ship
    Dm
And sank in mud up to my hips
  Am               E7                Am    E7
I cussed until the captain called me down
 Am
"Never mind how hard it's raining,
Dm
Think of all the ground we're gaining,
Am                  E7              Am
Just don't take one step outside of town."
 
[Chorus]
F              C
Lyndon Johnson told the nation
 Dm              Am
"Have no fear of escalation,
Am          E7          Am      A7
I am trying everyone to please.
F               C
Though it isn't really war,
      Dm            Am
We're sending fifty thousand more
   Am            E7              Am   E7  Am  E7
To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."
 
[Verse 3]
Am
Every night the local gentry
Dm
Slip out past the sleeping sentry
Am             E7             Am   E7
They go out to join the old V.C.
Am
In their nightly little dramas
Dm
They put on their black pajamas
Am               E7               Am
And come lobbing mortar shells at me
 
[Chorus]
    F              C
But Lyndon Johnson told the nation
 Dm              Am
"Have no fear of escalation,
Am          E7          Am      A7
I am trying everyone to please.
F               C
Though it isn't really war,
      Dm            Am
We're sending fifty thousand more
   Am            E7              Am   E7  Am  E7
To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."
 
[Verse 4]
Am
We go round in helicopters
Dm
Like a bunch of big grasshoppers
Am                E7           Am   E7
Searching for the Viet Cong in vain
     Am
They left a note that they had gone
     Dm
They had to get down to Saigon
      Am           E7             Am
Their government positions to maintain
 
[Chorus]
    F              C
And Lyndon Johnson told the nation
 Dm              Am
"Have no fear of escalation,
Am          E7          Am      A7
I am trying everyone to please.
F               C
Though it isn't really war,
      Dm            Am
We're sending fifty thousand more
   Am            E7              Am   E7  Am  E7
To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."
 
[Verse 5]
      Am
Well, here I sit in this rice paddy
Dm
Wondering about Big Daddy
Am              E7              Am   E7
And I know that Lyndon loves me so
Am
Yet how sadly I remember
Dm
Way back yonder in November
Am               E7            Am
When he said I'd never have to go
 
[Chorus]
    F              C
But Lyndon Johnson told the nation
 Dm              Am
"Have no fear of escalation,
Am          E7          Am      A7
I am trying everyone to please.
F               C
Though it isn't really war,
      Dm            Am
We're sending fifty thousand more
   Am            E7              Am
To help save Vietnam from Vietnamese."