To that valley they say, we'll be flying
And our target's a bridge at Hanoi -
Now our planes have been loaded with ordnance
in my heart I can still feel no joy

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

We'll be facing the North Vietnam Air Force
With their MiGs and their missiles and guns
And there's flak, there are SAMs, there are radars
Everyone willing to fry our buns

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

We'll be flying at the level of treetops
No mistakes on height we can afford
Weathermen say it's clear for this morning
It'll be horror and we won't get bored

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

To that valley they say we are going,
And many strange sights we there soon will see
Yet those clouds easily grow into thunder
At Hanoi rain and lightnings will be

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

Yesterday our Captain flew mission
And he saw never medal he earned.
Many pilots have flown in that valley,
And a number have never returned.

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

At this valley we will be refueling
We'll connect tanker plane in mid-air
We'll be large, slow and nice, juicy target
And the MiGs sure won't be playing fair

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

Now Hanoi is there looming at the skyline
Flak's so thick you can walk through the sky
Guns are blazing and hot steel is flying
Now that bridge is there and we'll fly by

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

So I'll fly through the flak at the target,
Let my bombs and my rockets to go
But our wingman didn't pull out his bomb run
He bought farm, it was fatally low

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

From this valley, at last, we are going
And that blip on the radar is SAM;
Now pull high, spin, evade, towards the sunshine
Push out chaff and the flares or we are damned

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell

To that valley tomorrow we'll be going
And our target again is Hanoi
We'll be loaded with bombs and the ordnance
And my mood is not filled up with joy

So come and sit on my backseat, do radar
Latch your belts, check your chute and wish well -
We are flying to the Red River Valley
It is same as we flew through the Hell