Pearl's Eye View (The Life of Dickey Chapelle) - Nanci Griffith

Oh, she was high up there in the air

Caught still by a soldier’s stare

Whenever it was men amongst men

Down upon the land

And she followed those mothers' sons

She felt the thunder of their guns

From a pearl’s eye view, just a camera in her hand

She was born Georgette but the name

Didn’t suit her well

So, she blew out of Wisconsin as Dickey Chapelle

So, she flew with a pilot’s pride

The first witness to either side

She carried relief to the lost ones

Between the bombs

And we saw it all through her lens

She knew she’ll go back again

When the call rang out once more from Vietnam

She’s been through this before

She’ll tell ya war is hell

Her pearl earrings caught the light

On Dickey Chapelle

Oh, that’s the way it was

She was the only one to tell

In 1962

She blew the whistle loud and clear

Now we trace her wings

In her footsteps without fear

To the front lines where she fell

Where she lies still

But she’s still there

It was 1965

Over Chu Lai in a free fall dive

In a dawn patrol to cover the dead zone ground

She tiptoed through the land mines

All along the enemy lines

But she never saw the one that took her down

She captured the bloody pearls of war so well

That war was bound to steal the end of Dickey Chapelle

Dickey Chapelle (from a pearl’s eye view)

Dickey Chapelle (from a pearl’s eye view)

Dickey Chapelle (from a pearl’s eye view)

Dickey Chapelle