Khe Sanh (song) - Composition

Composition

The mood of the song is typified by its first verse:

I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh

And I sold my soul with my cigarettes to the black market man

I've had the Vietnam cold turkey

From the ocean to the Silver City

And it's only other vets could understand

The remaining verses describe the singer's aimless drifting after his return to Australia: womanising, post traumatic stress disorder, addiction to speed and Novocaine, getting work on oil rigs and flying helicopters. He has travelled the world: "I've been back to South East Asia but the answer sure ain't there". The final refrain is "Well the last plane out of Sydney's almost gone", as the singer heads to Hong Kong for casual sex.

Don Walker has said the song was inspired by a number of people, including, "the guy from the next farm," who came back from Vietnam, "severely changed for the worst," and Adelaide guitarist Rick Morris. The first draft was written in Sweethearts Cafe in Kings Cross, New South Wales.

Barnes said of the writing process, "Don Walker used to write great songs, but he'd take months and months, and you wouldn't know about them until he'd turn up that day and say, 'Let's learn it.' I remember we were doing a gig somewhere, it might have been in Melbourne, and Don walked in and said, 'I've got this song. Let's do it tonight. It's really easy.' And it really was easy for them, because there are not many chords, but for me it's like a novel. I had to learn all the words that day." Walker said, "I originally wrote it as a punk song, but we found it worked better with a country-rock approach."