I lived in Galveston, TX, for eight years and never learned this song for some reason. I finally decided to rectify that situation.

The careers of Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell were intertwined as Webb wrote many of the songs that lifted Campbell to stardom. Glen did this top 10 hit originally as an upbeat, march tempo piece that showed off his lead guitar playing skills. When Webb and Campbell got together for their “In Session” TV special in 1988, Jimmy commented that his original vision for the song was a slow ballad and they performed a quiet, beautiful version.

The slow ballad take on this really makes more sense to me given the subject matter. Although this song was written during the Vietnam War era, it could portray any soldier in any lonely outpost of the world, scared and longing for home.