Talk:Khe Sanh (song)

Untitled
The article states that "Most of the Australian veterans were conscripts, who had been sent to fight "someone else's war" When in reality only half of Australia's servicemen in Vietnam were conscripts, and alot of conscripts supported Australia's involvement in Vietnam.

The article also says "Australian personnel usually travelled to and from Vietnam by air, often in Qantas airliners chartered for the purpose." Once again, only a small ammount of soldiers were flown to Vietnam by QANTAS, most were taken by HMAS Sydney, which was an aircraft carrier converted to Troop carrier at the time.


 * I think the main point is that the line is "the last plane" rather than "the last train" as most people seem to think. Like Barnes said, you can't get a train to Vietnam from any part of Australia except maybe one of our embassies.

Alternate lyrics
In some versions (including the YouTube video), Barnesy sings "and I sold my soul with my cigarettes" rather than "my soul was sold".

Also, I removed the incorrect reference to John Schumann. With his band The Vagabond Crew, he modifies the first line in this version to "I owe my life to the choppers at Long Tan". The song is credited as Khe Sanh (Long Tan Version). http://www.schumann.com.au/john/portrait.html#behind —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.74.149.20 (talk) 17:00, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

National anthem
I have seen Khe Sanh called the "alternate national anthem" and such many times before because it is so well known be nearly everyone in Australia. I would add this to the article, though I have no knowledge of editing Wikipedia and would have to do complicated referencing things so I am just leaving it as a message on the talk page and hoping that someone knowledgeable can do it. 210.56.72.252 (talk) 12:04, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

Best not. There are many "alternative national anthems" with Waltzing Matilda (Trad) probably leading the list, but other contenders would be Down Under (Men at Work) and I Still Call Australia Home (Peter Allen). Nominating one of them just causes controversy without illumination.

What the article hints at, but doesn't explain, is the role of Khe Sanh; I Was Only 19 (Redgum); and, to a lesser extent, And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda (Eric Bogle) in changing the views of the Australian population towards its Vietnam veterans. So complete has the change been that the music video of Man Overboard (Do Re Mi) is nowdays criticised for showing veterans' public behaviour on ANZAC Day in a unflattering way. Gdt (talk) 02:44, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

American accent
Is the US accent deliberate, or normal for the band at this time?

As noted in the article, "Sanh" in North America is pronounced "son" as in "sonic", or like "barn" as the article says.

Hence, Kay Sonic.

It is never pronounced like "man" as it is in the song.

99.247.1.157 (talk) 18:04, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
 * My guess is an unconscious Americanisation, like how the pronunciation of "can't" is often changed, but I haven't seen a ref one way or the other. Doctorhawkes (talk) 20:39, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Cheers, 99.247.1.157 (talk) 16:46, 2 September 2014 (UTC)

SIlver City
I cna see there had been a reversion tiff about Kapooka vs Broken Hill. The page currently (24 July 2014) says "The line in the song that mentions the Silver City is a reference to the corrugated metal army barracks in Kapooka." Is there any reference for this? Without one this looks like original intepretation, which does not belong here. It will also help with authority for a contested assertion. Deoxyribonucleic acid trip (talk) 11:16, 24 July 2014 (UTC)
 * I have read this somewhere, I think in an old Rolling Stone or RAM. I can try and hunt it up, but could take some time, so in the meantime it's probably best left out.Doctorhawkes (talk) 20:45, 24 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Okay, DoctorHawkes, it might be best to take it out until a citation is found, as it is being cited as an authority elswhere on the web. I'll do it now. Deoxyribonucleic acid trip (talk) 04:55, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

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Vietnamese pronunciation of Khe Sanh
"Kh" is pronounced like "ch" in Scots "loch". "e" is pronounced as in "bed".

"Sanh" is pronounced as in "sang" in the North, "sahn" around Khe Sanh itself (I base this on my experience of pronunciation in Hue), and "shahn" from (I believe) Da Nang all the way down. Take your pick. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lyphatma (talk • contribs) 07:04, 11 July 2019 (UTC)