[Verse 1]
I got a friend named Whiskey Sam
He was my boonierat buddy for a year in 'Nam
He said is my country just a little off track
Took them twenty-five years to welcome me back

[Verse 2]
But, it's better than not coming back at all
Many a good man I saw fall
And even now, every time I dream
I hear the men and the monkeys in the jungle scream

[Chorus]
Drive on, it don't mean nothing
My children love me, but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man, drive on
It don't mean nothing, drive on

[Verse 3]
I remember one night, Tex and me
Rappelled in on a hot L.Z
We had our 16's on rock and roll
But with all that fire, I was scared and cold

[Verse 4]
I was crazy and I was wild
And I have seen the tiger smile
I spit in a bamboo viper's face
And I'd be dead but by God's grace
[Chorus]
Drive on, it don't mean nothing
My children love me, but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man, drive on
It don't mean nothing, it don't mean nothing, drive on

[Verse 5]
It was a real slow walk in a sad rain
And nobody tried to be John Wayne
I came home but Tex did not
And I can't talk about the hit he got

[Verse 6]
But I got a little limp now when I walk
And I got a little tremolo when I talk
But my letter read from Whiskey Sam
You're a walking, talking miracle from Vietnam

[Chorus]
Drive on, it don't mean nothing
My children love me, but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man, drive on
It don't mean nothing, it don't mean nothing, drive on