The Ballad of Penny Evans Steve Goodman
Oh my name is Penny Evans and my age is twenty one
A young widow in the war that's being fought in Viet Nam
And I have two infant daughter's and I do the best I can
Now they say the war is over but I think it's just begun
I remember I was seventeen on the day I met young Bill
At his grandfather's grand piano we'd play old Heart and Soul
Well I only knew the left hand part and he the right so well
He's the only boy I ever slept with and the only one I will.
It's first we had a baby girl and we had two good years
It was next the A1 notice came and we parted without tears
So it's nine months from our last good night our second babe appears
So it's 10 months and a telegram confirming all our fears.
And now every month I get a check from an Army bureaucrat
And it's every month I tear it up and mail the damn thing back
Do you think that makes it all right do you think I'd fall for that?
And you can keep your bloody money, it won't bring my Billy back.
I never cared for politics and speches I don't understand
And likewise never took no charity from any living man
But tonight their's fifty thousand gone in that unhappy land
And fifty thousand Heart and Soul's being played with just one hand
Oh my name is Penny Evans and my age is twenty one
A young widow in the war that's being fought in Viet Nam
And I have two infant daughters I thank god I have no son's
Now they say the war is over, but I think it's just begun.