Written by pianist Don Walker, "Khe Sanh" concerns an Australian Vietnam veteran dealing with his return to civilian life.

According to Toby Creswell's liner notes for the band's 1991 compilation album Chisel, the song is also a story of restless youth.

Don Walker has said the song was inspired by a number of people, including, "the guy from the next farm," who came back from Vietnam, "severely changed for the worst," (sic) and Adelaide guitarist Rick Morris.

[6] Walker said he "killed a couple of afternoons" putting down the lyrics, "for my own enjoyment and amusement," in the days before the band had a recording contract.

"[9] Don Walker later described it as the type of song that would be written by an author who had yet to learn the established forms of songwriting.

The classification was ostensibly due to sex and drug references, such as the lines: "their legs were often open, but their minds were always closed".

[14] In 2001, members of APRA, the Australasian music industry's peak body, put "Khe Sanh" at number eight in a poll of the all-time best Australian songs.

[17] In August 2011, "Khe Sanh" re-entered the ARIA Singles Chart at #40, beating their previous peak position by one spot.

[19] Named by Double J as one of the best debut singles of all time, they said, "Walker jumped inside the psyche of a Vietnam Vet and laid it all bare: PTSD, drug addiction, reliance on overseas sex workers for intimacy, and a constant sense of unease and displacement.

"[20] Cold Chisel has released 15 records/CDs/compilations of Khe Sanh from 1978 to 2024, and Jimmy Barnes has issued further 4 compilations from 1996 to 2002 demonstrating its continued popularity.

A third version with a re-recorded vocal from Barnes was released on the Radio Songs greatest hits album and all future compilations.

[23] As a member of folk-rock band Redgum, Schumann wrote and sang another hit song about Australians in Vietnam: "I Was Only 19", released in 1983.