DESCRIPTION:
Vietnam War songs: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/JBrummer/vietnam_war_song_project/
On 11 November 1967 the surprise hit "An Open Letter to My Teenage Son" entered into the Billboard charts, selling over 1 million records in six weeks. Narrated by Victor Lundberg, a conservative American, the record heavily criticised draft dodgers and the counter-culture. Most memorable of all, Lundberg had told his son that if he burned his draft card, then he might as well burn his birth certificate, because from that moment onwards "I have no son".

Soon afterwards several "answer records" appeared, including the track "A Letter to Dad", entering the charts on 25 November 1967 (just 13 days later). Billboard reported that "this teen rebuttal of the Victor Lundberg smash comes off as a well-thought-out answer, performed and arranged in the best of taste. It represents the young idea and should be given equal air time with the original with sales following the same successful pattern".

Written by Bill Dean and Ron Marshall, it was indeed a well thought out answer, addressing each point that Lundberg had raised. However, it did not come even close to matching the sales of Lundberg, as predicted by Billboard (reaching only # 93 in the charts). Moreover, describing it as "the best of taste" may seem inappropriate to those who viewed it as an attempt to cash in on a popular issue, as well as the specially created name of the group, "Every Father's Teenage Son" - an attempt to represent all those on the anti-war side of the debate. The narrator of the song explained to his father that his love for the country means that he will not use violence:

"You used the phrase, 'fight for the right' two times in your letter
I pose that this one phrase is to blame for millions of lives and endless pain and suffering
It is not the lack of pride for my country but an abundance of respect for my fellow man which demands
That I must promise myself not to use violence, no matter what...
And understanding the dangers of a too hardened patriotism I choose to burn my draft card
Then, Dad, it will be you who will have to burn my birth certificate
And although you stopped calling me son, I'll never stop calling you Dad"