Composer Phil Kline discovered a new song cycle in the poems that American
GIs scratched into their Zippo lighters. Here, in Kline's own words, is a description
of the project.
"A few years ago, I read a story about the poems that American GIs inscribed
on their lighters in Viet Nam. It seemed to me that buried somewhere in this
small body of literature was the basis for a song cycle. Since military issue
Zippos are highly collectible they were easy to find and there were hundreds
of poems to work with.... Zippo Songs then began to take a shape as a sequence
of varied moods and activities, getting bummed, getting high, getting horny,
getting bored, dying, finding god.
--Phil Kline
John Schaefer played a Zippo song on New Sounds recently.
The poems follow:
1
OURS IS NOT
TO DO OR DIE
OURS IS TO SMOKE
AND STAY HIGH
IN LIFE WE
OFTEN HAVE TO
DO THINGS THAT
JUST ARE NOT
OUR BAG
ALWAYS RIPPED
OR ALWAYS STONED
I MADE IT YEAR
I¹M GOING HOME
NO HOPE WITHOUT DOPE
2
BEEN TO HELL
LIVED TO TELL
YEA THOUGH I WALK
THROUGH THE VALLEY OF
THE SHADOW OF DEATH
I FEAR NO EVIL FOR
I¹M THE EVILEST SON OF
A BITCH IN THE VALLEY
DEATH IS MY
BUSINESS
AND BUSINESS
HAS BEEN GOOD
IF YOU DON¹T
KNOW WHAT
HELL IS LIKE
FUCK WITH
ME AND YOU¹LL
FIND OUT
LET ME WIN YOUR
HEART AND MIND
OR I¹LL BURN
YOUR HUT DOWN
3
REBECCA
MY BELOVED WIFE
AWAY FROM YOU
I SO MUCH HUNGER
FOR YOUR TOUCH
WHEN THE
POWER OF LOVE
OVERCOMES THE
LOVE OF POWER
THE WORLD WILL
KNOW PEACE
4
IF I HAD A FARM
IN VIETNAM AND A
HOME IN HELL I¹D SELL MY FARM
AND GO HOME
IF I HAD A
FARM IN HELL
AND A HOUSE
IN VIET NAM
I WOULD SELL
THEM BOTH
PLEASE
DON¹T TELL ME
ABOUT VIETNAM
BECAUSE I HAVE
BEEN THERE
5
WHEN I¹M DEAD
AND IN MY GRAVE
NO MORE PUSSY
WILL I CRAVE
WHEN I DIE BURY
ME FACE DOWN SO
THE WHOLE WORLD
CAN KISS MY ASS
IF YOU GOT
THIS OFF
MY DEAD ASS
I HOPE
IT BRINGS YOU
THE SAME LUCK
IT BROUGHT ME
WHEN I DIE
I¹LL GO TO
HEAVEN BECAUSE
I¹VE SPENT MY
TIME IN HELL
WHEN I KNOW
I¹M DEAD I¹LL FEAR
NO WAR NO COMBAT
NO FIGHTING BECAUSE
THE GOD APPEARS
BEHIND ME
6
WE CAME BECAUSE
WE BELIEVE
WE LEAVE BECAUSE
WE ARE DISILLUSIONED
WE COME BACK BECAUSE
WE ARE LOST
WE DIE BECAUSE
WE ARE COMMITTED
WE ARE THE UNWILLING
LED BY THE UNQUALIFIED
DOING THE UNNECESSARY
FOR THE UNGRATEFUL
7
YOU¹VE NEVER
LIVED
UNTIL YOU¹VE
NEARLY DIED
YOU ONLY LIVE
TWICE
ONCE WHEN YOU¹RE
BORN AND
ONCE WHEN YOU¹VE
LOOKED DEATH IN
THE FACE
YESTERDAY IS
HISTORY
TOMORROW IS
A MYSTERY
TODAY IS THE
GOLDEN AGE
BETWEEN
FOR THOSE WHO HAVE
TO FIGHT FOR IT
LIFE HAS A FLAVOR
THE PROTECTED WILL
NEVER KNOW