I Can't Write Left-Handed - Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, NY - October 1972

We recorded this song on October the 6th
 Since then the war has been declared over
 If you're like me, you'll remember it like anybody remembers any war
 One big drag
 Lot of people writes songs about wars and government
 Very social things
 But I think about young guys
 Who were like I was when I was young
 I had no more idea about any government
 Or political things, or anything
 And I think about those kind of young guys now
 Who all of a sudden somebody comes up
 And they are very law abiding
 So if somebody says go
 They don't ask any questions, they just go
 And I can remember not too long ago seeing a young guy
 With his right arm gone
 Just got back
 And I asked him how he was doing
 He said he was doing alright now
 But he had thought he was gonna die
 He said getting shot at didn't bother him
 It was getting shot that shook him up
 And I tried to put myself in his position
 Maybe he cried
 Maybe he said
 ♪
 I can't write left-handed
 Would you please write a letter
 Write a letter to my mother?
 Tell her to tell, tell her to tell
 Tell her to tell my family lawyer
 Try to get, try to get a deferment for my younger brother
 Tell the Reverend Harris to pray for me
 Lord, lord, lord
 I ain't gonna live
 I don't believe I'm gonna live to get much older
 Strange little man over here in Vietnam
 I ain't, I ain't never seen
 Bless his heart I ain't never done nothin' to
 He done shot me in my shoulder
 ♪
 Bootcamp we had classes, aha
 You know we talked about fightin', fightin' everyday
 And lookin' through rosy, rosy coloured glasses
 I must admit it seemed exciting, anyway
 Oh, but something that day overlooked to tell me, lord
 Bullets look better, I must say
 Rather when they comin' at you
 But go without the other way
 ♪
 And please call up the Reverend, call up
 Call up the Reverend Harris
 And tell him to ask the lord to do some good things for me, lord no
 Tell him, I ain't gonna live
 I ain't gonna live, I ain't gonna live to get much older
 Oh lord
 Strange little man over here in Vietnam
 I ain't never seen, bless his heart
 I ain't never done nothing to
 He done shot me in my shoulder