Well, my name is Penny Evans and my age is twenty-one

I’m a widow of the war that’s being fought in Vietnam

And I have two infant daughters, oh, I do the best I can

When they say the war is over, I tell ‘em all it just began

I remember I was seventeen when first I met young Bill

At his father’s grand piano

we played good old “Heart and Soul”

And I only knew the left-hand part

but he could play the right so well

He’s the only boy I’ve slept with, he’s the only one I will

And it’s first we had a baby girl, oh, we had two good years

After that, the draft notice came, we parted without tears

Now it’s nine months from our last night

when our second babe appears

Six months later now this letter comes

confirming all my fears

And now it’s every month I get

a check from an army bureaucrat

And it’s every month I tear it up

and send the damn thing back

Do they think that I can be bought off?

Do they think I’ll fall for that?

I won't take this bloody money, it can't bring my Billy back

Now, I have not once cared for politics

all speeches I can’t understand

Likewise, I'll never take no charity from any living man

But it’s fifty-thousand Billys dead in that unhappy land

And that makes fifty-thousand “Heart

and Souls” being played with just one hand

And my name is Penny Evans and my age is twenty-one

And I’m a widow of the war that’s being fought in Vietnam

And I have two infant daughters

God, I’m glad I've had no sons

When they say the war is over

I tell ‘em all it’s just begun