I've got a ticket for southeast Asia,
I got my camera and press card badge
They only pay me to stay the weekend;
What if I never come back?

The flight was pretty rough
I got a room, took a sauna,
The bellboy gook put my bags on the bed,
He left without his tip.

Then I loaded up my Hasselblad full of film
And I stepped outside, I stepped outside.

I'm taking pictures of burning houses
Colored movies of misery.
I see the flash of guns, how red the mud becomes,
I've got a close-up view.

I'm the six o'clock news - what can I do?
All those kids without shoes - what can I do?
Military coups - what can I do?
I'm just the six o'clock news.

I got a suite at the Saigon Hilton
Cocktail parties with premiere Ky
We talk about how the war is going
And watch his color TV.

I'm the six o'clock news
Drinkin' black market booze
I'm red, white and true blue
I am, I am, I am, I am, I am... the six o'clock news.

Catch my plane flight back to the mainland,
I fall asleep to the engines' drone.
I see the flash of guns, how red the mud becomes,
I've got a close-up view. I am, I am, I am, I am, I am

I'm the six o'clock news - what can I do?
Guerilla Rendezvous - what can I do?
All those kids without shoes - what can I do?
Napalm tattoos - what can I do?

I'm the six o'clock news - what can I do?
I am, I am, I am, I am, I am
CBS, NBC, ABC....

Originally written and recorded by Larry Norman