[Intro]
Bill Withers wrote this song in 1973
Back then it was about the Vietnam War which my father went to
And I understood it from the perspective of a kid who went to Desert Storm
And now it's 2018 and there's some young man in some war, somewhere and he'll understand it his way
And that's just what it is, I mean, one thing I really like about this song is it's not, really political
It's really about the conditions of the people that go
And the reasons that we go, is not political at all
It has more to do with our immediate circumstances
Like for mе, I joined 'cause my daddy joined and
My daddy joinеd because he needed a job, you know?
So like he said, "When they say, 'Go,' you just go"
Half the time, you go into some country you never heard of
Which is excitin' until you realize like, "Wow, this is really life and death," you know?
And I'm sure it's the same way for the guy on the other side but
Once you're in that situation, you're wearin' that uniform and he's wearin' that uniform
And whether you're political or not
You are in that situation right now
And it doesn't matter what your political leanin's are at that time
And that's what I really love about this song 'cause it speaks that
The humanity, of soldiers, of humans on either side

[Verse 1]
I can't write left-handed
Would you please write a letter, write a letter to my mother?
Tell her to tell, tell her to tell, tell her to tell my family lawyer
Try to get, try to get a deferment for my younger brother
Tell the Reverend Watkins to pray for me
I ain't gonna live, I don't believe I'm going to live to get much older
[Refrain]
Strange little man over here, Vietnam I ain't, I ain't never seen
Bless his heart, ain't never done nothin' to
He done shot me in my shoulder

[Verse 2]
Boot camp we had classes
You know we talked about fightin', about fightin' every day
And lookin' through rosy, lookin' through rosy colored glasses
I must admit it seemed excitin', excitin' anyway
Yeah, but somethin', somethin' they overlooked to tell me
Bullets look better, I must say
Brother, when they ain't comin' at you
Then goin', goin' out the other way
So please call up the Reverend
Call up, call up the Reverend Harris
And tell him to ask the Lord to do some good things for me
Tell him I ain't gonna live, I ain't gonna live
I ain't gonna live to get much older
Oh Lord

[Refrain]
Strange little man over here, Vietnam I ain't never seen
Bless his heart ain't never done nothin' to
He done shot me in my shoulder
[Outro]
Oh
Hey, yay
Oh
Mmm