Lyrics of Agent Orange by HistoryMusicNerd
In ’65 the orders came,
Vietnam would never be the same.
Operation Ranch Hand took its flight,
Toxic herbicides were spread out wide.
They sprayed the land with deadly rain,
No jungle left to hide again.
They send
Agent Orange falling down!
Trees once green now turning brown!
A silent killer in the air,
Death that lingers everywhere!
They send Agent Orange!
20 million gallons from the sky,
Fields and forests left to die.
But it wasn’t just the trees that fell,
the Children born in a living hell.
They sprayed the land with deadly rain,
No jungle left to hide again.
They send
Agent Orange falling down!
Trees once green now turning brown!
A silent killer in the air,
Death that lingers everywhere!
They send Agent Orange!
Ho Chi Minh’s trail, a shadowed road,
Now exposed, where supplies once flowed.
The US planes are reaching far,
Hit Laos and Cambodia!
By ’71 the spraying ceased,
But the damage lived beyond the peace.
Still in the soil, still in the blood,
Echoes of war in the monsoon flood.
They sprayed the land with deadly rain,
No jungle left to hide again.
They send
Agent Orange falling down!
Trees once green now turning brown!
A silent killer in the air,
Death that lingers everywhere!
They send Agent Orange!
Historical Background and Meaning
In short: The song is about the use of toxic herbicides (like Agent Orange) by the US in the Vietnam War.
Agent Orange – The Poison that Lingered
In 1965, the U.S. military unleashed a new kind of warfare over the jungles of Vietnam.
It wasn’t bullets or bombs—it was Agent Orange.
A chemical weapon that didn’t just destroy forests—
It haunted generations.
Operation Ranch Hand – The Spraying Begins
“In ’65 the orders came, Vietnam would never be the same.”
The U.S. Air Force launched Operation Ranch Hand, using Agent Orange to:
- Defoliate jungles hiding Viet Cong forces.
- Destroy crops, starving enemy troops.
- Spray millions of acres, permanently altering Vietnam’s landscape.
“They sprayed the land with deadly rain, no jungle left to hide again.”
The Devastation – Beyond the Battlefield
“20 million gallons from the sky, fields and forests left to die.”
Agent Orange contained dioxin, one of the most toxic substances known to man.
- Mass deforestation, leaving Vietnam’s soil barren.
- Water contamination, spreading poison through rivers and fields.
- Birth defects & cancers, affecting millions—long after the war ended.
“The children born in a living hell.”
The Secret War – Laos & Cambodia
“The U.S. planes are reaching far, hit Laos and Cambodia!”
Though Vietnam was the primary target, the spraying extended into neighboring countries.
- Ho Chi Minh Trail, a crucial Viet Cong supply route, was targeted.
- Laos & Cambodia suffered environmental destruction without ever officially being at war.
By 1971, the spraying stopped, but the damage was permanent.
“Still in the soil, still in the blood, echoes of war in the monsoon flood.”
Want to Learn More?
- 🎥 What is Agent Orange – History (YouTube)
- 🎥 Agent Orange (The Vietnam War) – Simple History (YouTube)
- 📖 Agent Orange (Wikipedia)
- 🎖️ Operation Ranch Hand – The U.S. Air Force’s Deadly Spraying Campaign (Wikipedia)
The Legacy of Agent Orange
Even decades after the last bomb fell,
Agent Orange still kills.
The war ended in 1975—but for many,
its poison never left.
