Two days past 18, he was waiting for the bus in his army green, sat down in a booth in a cafe there, gave his order to a girl with a bow and a hair.
He's a little shy, so she gives him a smile, and he said, would you mind sitting down for a while and talking to me?
I'm feeling a little low. She said, I'm off in an hour, and I know where we can go.
So they went down, and they sat on the pier. He said, I bet you've got a boyfriend, but I don't care. I got no one to send a letter to.
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?
I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy to you.
Him they told her, waiting for the love of a traveling soldier.
Our love will never end, waiting for the soldier to come back again.
Never mind.



He didn't want to be alone, when the letter said, a soldier's coming home.
So the letters came from an army camp in California, then Vietnam, and he told her of his heart.
He might be loving all of the things he was so scared of.
He said, when it's getting kind of rough over here.
I think of that day, sitting down on the pier, and I close my eyes, and see a pretty smile.
Don't worry, but I won't be able to write for a while.
I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy to you.
Him they told her, waiting for the love of a traveling soldier.




Our love will never end, waiting for the soldier to come back again.
Never mind.
He didn't want to be alone, when the letter said, a soldier's coming home.
I will never be able to write one day, ever, that we'll be alone again.
One Friday night at a football game.
The Lord's prayer said, and the anthem sang.
And the man said, folks, would you bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead?
Crying all alone under the stand
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read, nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hand
I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him, they told her
Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier
Our love will never end
Waiting for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone
When the letter said, the soldier's coming
I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him, they told her
Waiting for the love of a traveling soldier
Our love will never end
Waiting for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone
When the letter said, the soldier's coming home
Waiting for the soldier to come back again