# Sink the Bismarck Song an Oddity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 1, 2022, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765 "2022-02-01T22:17:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/21 "2022-02-02T05:59:14Z")
I’d hate people to think I was just a shill for the British 70’s band Paper Lace but two of their big hits were story songs: [The night Chicago died](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-L0NpaErkk) [Capone era] [Billy Dont Be a hero](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX-JeV37Uqw) [American Civil War] I have previously called them the Beatles / Mozart / Dylan of story songs, but can extend that to foreign-themed music as well. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/22 "2022-02-02T06:21:50Z")
The lyrics of _Billy Don’t be a Hero_ don’t identify any particular war, or indeed any particular country. They fit the American Civil War, but they would equally fit many other wars. Besides, the OP looks for songs that praise another country’s achievements. Whatever war, or whatever country, this song refers to, it’s certainly not a song of praise. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/23 "2022-02-02T11:26:19Z")
True enough. My memory of the lyrics was blurred by their ACW uniforms in their film clip and the highly convincing American accents they used in the song. Looking at the [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Don%27t_Be_a_Hero) entry just now I see that some thought it was a Vietnam War allusion. Since you’re helping verify against the OPs requirements, what would you make of another one I rejected as too confusing - [Two little boys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Little_Boys), which I know from the [Rolf Harris single](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9TVvkpHWxg). Composed by an American, sung originally in music halls, supposedly inspired by an incident involving Australian mounted troops in the Boer War. As a boy I assumed it was American Civil War related [I think everything is…], which would make Rolf Harris eligible, but not when it was sung by Kenny Rogers, except when it was about the Australians. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/24 "2022-02-02T12:19:44Z")
I always thought _Billy, Don’t Be a Hero_ was about Vietnam. Everything concerning war was about Vietnam at that time. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/25 "2022-02-02T12:26:23Z")
Johnny Horton recorded two versions of the “Battle of New Orleans” - one for [American](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v7CzfPUphY) audiences, and another for the [British](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWqmXcHzfD8) , Two points of view. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/26 "2022-02-02T13:25:27Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It was inspired by the 1960 British war movie _[Sink the Bismarck!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sink_the_Bismarck!)_ and was in fact (with the producer [John Brabourne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brabourne)’s approval) commissioned from Johnny Horton by [20th Century Fox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox) who were worried about the subject’s relative obscurity in the United States. For some reason the size comparisons of guns and shells are switched. While the song was used in U.S. theater trailers for the film, it was not used in the film itself. I figured that this was the case when I read the thread title (I’d never heard of the song before, but the time period was right). I saw the movie in the local theater when it first came out. Later on I found that it was based on the book by C.S. Forester (author of the Horatio Hornblower novels, in addition to _The African Queen_ and _The Good Shepherd_, upon which they based the recent Tom Hanks movie _Greyhound_). The book was being sold as a paperback with the title _Sink the Bismark!_, but in smaller type it gave the original, less dramatic and exclamation point-less title _The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck._ ---
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/27 "2022-02-02T13:35:45Z")
I wanted to put forward “Waterloo” by ABBA, but the song doesn’t even mention the English and/or Prussians… ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/28 "2022-02-02T13:44:56Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > Are there other songs that praise another country’s military wins, or another country’s anything come to that? Gordon Sinclair’s hilariously fawning “The Americans” comes to mind.\* [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/z4i3LmR0K74/hqdefault.jpg "Gordon Sinclair - The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4i3LmR0K74) \*Robert Klein had an amusing parody of this “tune”. \*\*bonus points if you remember the 1960s U.S. chart hit praising a war criminal, which also used the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” as a backdrop. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/29 "2022-02-02T13:53:02Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > I always thought _Billy, Don’t Be a Hero_ was about Vietnam. Everything concerning war was about Vietnam at that time. This. MASH and Catch 22 were also about Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/30 "2022-02-02T13:59:02Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Johnny Horton recorded two versions of the “Battle of New Orleans” - one for [American](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v7CzfPUphY) audiences, and another for the [British](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWqmXcHzfD8) , Two points of view. Wow! I haver never heard the British version before. Was it ever released? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/31 "2022-02-02T14:30:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Praising foreign women is easy. British pop duo Haysi Fantayzee praising John Wayne: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YoY8GEJigxs/maxresdefault.jpg "Haysi Fantayzee - John Wayne Is Big Leggy (1982) HD 0815007") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoY8GEJigxs) And a German cover by Bienenstich: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jwYCpGPC-y4/hqdefault.jpg "BIENENSTICH - John Wayne ist der Größte (John Wayne Is Big Leggy)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwYCpGPC-y4) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/32 "2022-02-02T14:58:17Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > I wanted to put forward “Waterloo” by ABBA, but the song doesn’t even mention the English and/or Prussians… Well, perhaps you could consider ABBA’s _Fernando_, which is about a losing side, but still counts, I guess. I once got a free 45 rpm record of that song when it debuted. It was from Burger King as a promotional gimmick. I got turned on to ABBA because of it. Beautiful song. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/33 "2022-02-02T19:12:56Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > Praising foreign women is easy. > > British pop duo Haysi Fantayzee praising John Wayne: Well, if novelty songs count in this category, here’s a song by a British duo praising German footballer Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, especially his knees: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nWHL0HsusvU/hqdefault.jpg "Alan & Denise - Rummenigge 1983") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWHL0HsusvU) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/34 "2022-02-02T19:19:01Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > Pretty much the entire output of Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton is praising other countries’ military exploits. Including [_Bismarck_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVWEb-At8yc). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/35 "2022-02-02T19:24:58Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > This. MASH and Catch 22 were also about Vietnam. The movies, yes. The books, not so much. The author of MASH was not a fan of Alan Alda. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/36 "2022-02-02T22:10:52Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > Oddity or not, _Sink the Bismarck!_ is a snappy tune about a historical event. Johnny Horton specialized in them. _The Battle of New Orleans_, _North to Alaska_. Why can’t we have more snappy historical songs? It may be ‘about’ a historical event, but it’s far from historical. Nearly every line is inaccurate. About the only line that does NOT contain factual errors is _“Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she’s gotta be”_ – that is obviously accurate, but doesn’t contain much information. Even the title is inaccurate. Now that the wreck has been found underwater, it’s clear that the Bismarck went down because the German crew scuttled her (so the British couldn’t tow her into port and repair her) – the British shells mostly bounced off her armor, and their torpedos didn’t penetrate below water. Johnny Horton (or his songwriters) wrote several ‘historical’ songs; most of them have inaccuracies in the lines. (North to Alaska, Comanche, the Brave Horse, Battle of New Orleans). But the Bismarck seems the winner, with nearly every line wrong. [But still a really catchy song; music doesn’t depend on accuracy.] ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/37 "2022-02-02T22:18:13Z")
I don’t mean historical songs like _Schoolhouse Rock_, as a device to teach history, although that would be pretty cool. I mean just catchy rollicking songs about historical events, not necessarily musical documentaries. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/38 "2022-02-02T23:07:04Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > It sells books, that’s why! > There should be a _“Sink the Bismarck! Then Raise Her, and Sink Her Again!”_ You missed one. _Sink the Bismarck! Then Raise Her! Then Sink Her Again!_ According to Wiki, the English-language version of [Fernando](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_(song)) is about the Mexican Revolution. Chris de Burgh (originally British, currently living in Ireland) has a medley of three songs, “Revolution”, “Light a Fire”, and “Liberty”. The lyrics don’t mention any specific revolution, but could work for either the American or the French. ([This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdT9oq7VBDA) shows the Jacobite rising of 1745, but I don’t think Bonny Prince Charlie would have considered himself a revolutionary.) ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/39 "2022-02-02T23:22:15Z")
Barbados, a song written and performed by two Welshmen plus session musicians, waxes lyrical about the many virtues of this tropical island paradise. They recorded under the name Typically Tropical. This number is the only UK #1 which informs the listener exactly how high the band is. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765/40 "2022-02-03T03:38:55Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Johnny Horton (or his songwriters) wrote several ‘historical’ songs; most of them have inaccuracies in the lines. (North to Alaska, Comanche, the Brave Horse, Battle of New Orleans). But the Bismarck seems the winner, with nearly every line wrong. Well, they say history is written by the winners. Maybe that should be history is written by Johnny Horton, because without the song, I’d never have heard of the Bismarck. But if someone wants to write a song called “Scuttle the Bismarck!” well, don’t bother, that’ll never sell. Beethoven composed “Wellington’s Victory”, can we include that? (Supposed to be one of his worst, done for cash; one wonders if he gave a damn about Waterloo and who defeated who.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sink-the-bismarck-song-an-oddity/958765.md?page=3)