Readjustment Blues (Bill Danoff)

Readjustment Blues (Bill Danoff)
John Denver Aerie circa 1971

Just out of the infantry this morning,
I had to pay my dues across the sea,
But no one back in boot camp ever warned me,
What the readjustment blues would do to me.

"Welcome to Havana", said the pilot,
"We must have made a wrong turn on the way,
Let's buy some cigars and keep it quiet,
If they don't know we're here we'll get away."

Just as I had realized he was joking,
I saw we were in Washington D.C.
'Cause there were all the patriotic buildings,
Just like I had seen them on TV.

It must have been a holiday 'cause there was this parade,
And people carried signs I couldn't read that they had made --
Till I got closer and my heart fell to my socks;
There was a battle ragin' and the air was filled with tear gas and rocks.

There was the flag I'd fought against so often,
The one I fought for hangin' upside down,
The wind was blowin' hard, the dirt was flyin'
It made the city sky look dark and brown.

I stopped a girl who could have been my sister,
Except her hair was long and in her face,
And she explained this was a demonstration,
Against the war and for the human race.

Now I seen a lot of strange things in my travels,
Cannibals and aliens galore,
But I never thought I'd see so many people
Sayin' we don't want your ** war!

The troops all had on uniforms just like the one I'd worn.
But they were all domestic and my duty tour was foreign.
They carried guns just like the ones across the sea,
Except this time I was the citizen, and they were pointin' their guns at me,

Yeah, I was just a citizen, and I was walking down the street,
And it was just then that the readjustment blues got through to me.