LAMENT OF THE RESERVIST
I was a civilian and flew on weekends
No sweat about clanks and no sign of the bends
But I am a retread and older I grow
Now I fly a Mustang, it's old and it's slow.
cho: Sinuiju and Anak, Sinanju and Sinmak
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane.
Quad fifties and forties and one hundred sorties
They'll drive you crazy, they'll drive you insane!
Oh, once I was happy and I flew a jet
At 35,000 how fat can you get?
They sent me to Nellis for six weeks to train
They gave me a Mustang, it's no aero-plane!
We strafed and we bombed and we shot air to air
Then off to Korea, we're fouled up for fair
We came to K-Four-Six to fly with this Group
My hair's turning gray and my wings have a droop!
I flew my first mission and it was a snap
Just follow the leader, don't look at a map
But now I've got eighty and lead a sad flight
Go out on armed recce and can't sleep at night!
Went up to Mig Alley, S-2 said no sweat
If I had not looked'round, I'd be up there yet
Six Migs jumped our ass and the leader yelled "Break!"
Sixty-one and three thousand, how my knees did shake!
If I live through a hundred and they ask for more
I'll tell them to shove it, my ass is too sore
They can ram it and jam it for all that I care
Just give me a Wing job, a desk and a chair!
(Tune: "Cigareets" and Whisky)
from There I was...Flat on my Back, Stevens