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"We had no Softsoap..."
"Goodnight Saigon" is a song about the Vietnam War - more specifically about Marines who fought in that conflict.
Many critics and musicians liked the song. Garth Brooks said it was his favorite Billy Joel song. But others disagreed. Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh said it was "obscenity" that the song "refuses to take sides" on the war.
Other critics couldn't look past one particular line in the song: "We had no Softsoap."
You heard that right. "We had no Softsoap."
I've always been as flabbergasted at that line as you are. That's not a misheard line. That's the real lyrics.
I used to hear this song when I was about 10, and I was always afraid I'd have to fight in a war, because there would be no Softsoap. Some said that line completely undercut the rest of the song and its assessment of the war.
The "Goodnight Saigon" clip posted above is the album version that people are more familiar with. The song also had a popular video, which appears to have instead been recorded at one of Billy's concerts...
That was back when Billy always wore a bandage on his left thumb. Several articles suggest this was because a recent motorcycle crash had left him with no bone in the tip of his finger.
I also once read that Billy would shred newspapers on stage if a critic at the paper gave him a bad review.
Billy Joel. The man, the myth, the legend!
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