I Can't Write Left Handed

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oooh, oooh, yeah

Bill Withers recorded this song

At the end of the Vietnam war

As I record this now, America

The land of peace and prosperity

Is in the middle of two wars

No matter what the politicians in Washington

Say we're fighting for

They make the decisions

And our young men and women

They go and fight

And some, paid the ultimate sacrifice

War is hell

It always has been and always will be

When Bill Withers performed this song

At Carnegie Hall back in 1973

He told the story of a young man

Bill asked the young man how he was doing

The young man said he was doing alright, now

But he had thought he was gonna die

He said getting shot at didn't bother him

It was getting shot that shook him up

So Bill wrote a song about it

Tried to put himself in the young man's place

He said, yeah

I can't write left-handed

Would you please write a letter, write a letter to my mother?

Instrumental

Tell her to tell, tell her to tell, tell her to tell the family lawyer

Trying to get, trying to get a deferment for my younger brother

Instrumental

Tell the Reverend Harris to pray for me, Lord, Lord, Lord

I ain't gonna live, I don't believe I'm going to live to get much older

Strange little man over here in Vietnam I ain't, I ain't never seen

Bless his heart ain't never done nothing to

He done shot me in my shoulder (in my shoulder)

Instrumental

Boot camp we had classes

You know we talked about fighting, fighting everyday

Instrumental

And looking through rosy, rosy colored glasses

I must admit it seemed exciting anyway

Instrumental

Oh, but something that day overlooked to tell me

The bullets look better, I must say

Brother, brother when they ain't coming at you

But going out the other way

So please call up the Reverend, call up, call up the Reverend Harris

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

Strange little man over here in Vietnam, I ain't never seen

Bless his heart ain't never done nothing to,

He done shot me in my shoulder (shot me in my shoulder)

Instrumental

Lord, I can't write left handed, Lord

Instrumental