On a field of red one gold starRaised above his head

Raised above his head

He was not like any other

He was just like any otherAnd the song they bledWas a hymn to him

Awake my little one

The seed of revolution

Sewn in the sleeveOf cloth humbly worn

Where others are adorned



Above the northern plainThe great birds flyWith great wings

Over the paddy fields

And the people kneelAnd the men they toil

Yet not for their own

And the children are hungry

And the wheel groans

There before a grass hut

A young boy stood

His mother lay deadHis sisters cried for bread

And within his young heartThe seed of revolution sewn

In cloth humbly wornWhile others are adorned



And he grew into a man

Not like any otherJust like any other

One small man

A beard the color of rice

A face the color of teaWho shared the misery

Of other men in chains

With shackles on his feet

Escaped the guillotine



Who fought againstColonialism imperialism

Who remained awake

While others slept

Who penned like Jefferson

Let independence ring

And the cart of justice turns

Slow and bitterly

And the people were crying

Plant that seed that seedAnd they crawled on their bellies

Beneath the giant beast

And filled the carts with bodies

Where once had been their crops



And the great birds swarmSpread their wings overhead

And his mother deadAnd the typhoons and the rain

The jungles in flames

And the orange sun

None could be more beautifulThan Vietnam

Nothing was more beautifulThan Vietnam



And his heart stopped beating

And the wheel kept turningAnd the words he bled

Were a hymn to them

I have served the whole peopleI have served my whole country

And as I l