“Downright Bygone“ - Marsh Family adaptation of “Goodnight Saigon“ by Billy Joel on National Service

We had a lot of fun making this parody, in response to the big policy pledge unveiled by Rishi Sunak for the upcoming July 4th UK General Election, announcing that a compulsory form of National Service for eighteen-year-olds is to be reintroduced – having been abandoned in the UK in 1960 (when we still had the remnants of an empire). Lots of countries have obligatory national service for those in their late teens, and some of them work well. That’s usually because they have been carefully planned, tested, and funded, and are embedded alongside other structures that encourage volunteering, education, and the development of skills and social cohesion. That’s not what this policy looks like (or what we know about it). It was the kids that wanted to address the topic – maybe cos some of them are trying to avoid revision for exams, or because this one was super-relevant to their actual life prospects (given their ages: 12, 14, 16, 17). We explain what we think of the policy in the song, which ended up quite a mammoth task. We recorded the singing in one take, and decided not to cut away to other instruments (Alfie on piano, Tom on drums, Ella on cornet, Ben on other stuff) – but we got as close as we could to the original Billy Joel song, “Goodnight Saigon”, released in 1982 about the US Marines sent to Vietnam (from the album The Nylon Curtain). It’s been parodied before, by Will Ferrell in an SNL sketch in 2009. We thought carefully about contexts – a verse was excluded that addressed the heartbreaking realities of kids fighting in Ukraine and beyond. But the aim here was to expose the holes in the claims about National Service and what young people need in the UK, and the fact that they feel a lot of ‘camaraderie’ in pushing back against it – and have good reasons to do so. More on the politics if you are interested here: ___________________________ Support us here: - Kickstarter (last three days!) for our summer 2024 campaign: - PayPal to leave us a tip jar: - Patreon for ongoing support & bonuses: Find our other channels here: Follow us here: - - - - - @marshfamilysongs - ___________________________ LYRICS: They made a “bold” pledge, as fears heightened Dreamed up in think tanks or some asylum Scared of Farage. And Richard Tice! Sunak’s proposing we should weigh down our lives Undemocratic, they’re gonna force us To get our butts kicked in national service The news came fast. The detail light. He sent James Cleverly, to put us to rights It’s quite an insult from such a soft bloke Winchester Head Boy, money for old rope To say that WE should have to fight And claim our sacrifice will help us unite They’ve closed the libraries, and screwed the landscapes They’ve scrapped the youth clubs, and other escapes Now we must work! Must work or fight! While those who couldn’t be bothered Deliver us lectures Hypocrisy dressed up as pride And we will all go down together They say we’ll all go down together Yes we must ‘volunteer’ together Remember COVID? Remember Brexit? They wrecked our childhoods, or hampered prospects Free movement gone! Can’t get a start! An education system falling apart We get no pay Or a stingy stipend They do alright – As they try To appeal to over 60s Whose dads did service Though not the real kind - just months on Cyprus And it was scrapped, never revived Until your scramble for voters Your fag-packet quotas To burden the Army arrived And we will all go down together They say we’ll all go down together Yes, we must ‘volunteer’ together We’re not all lazy. We’re not all snowflakes. We love our country, just not your piss-takes. There’s nothing wrong with giving back It’s not the values or the will that we lack It’s all the funding that has been squandered More frontline forces. More first responders. We want careers. Less rent, or debts You raid the levelling up fund Give tax breaks to pensions And tell us to join the cadets And we will all go down together They say we’ll all go down together Yes, we will ‘volunteer’ together ___________________________ Special thanks as ever reserved for our magnificent Howlers (the top category of supporters on Patreon): Alyssa Sangeeta Jacobson Memorial Fund Sandra Vernooy Dan Mccolm Patricia Saucier Ronald Slye Todd Jim the Magician Douglas Lind David Ryan Simon Haslam Dave Lee Lew Mike Smith Andy Riches Cliff Hope Carol Leff Derrick Brown Grandad David Patrao Geeta & Karen Clarence Smith Gary Carpenter