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 [Capone era]
Billy Dont Be a hero [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.
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.
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 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, which I know from the Rolf Harris single. 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?
I always thought Billy, Don’t Be a Hero was about Vietnam. Everything concerning war was about Vietnam at that time.
Johnny Horton recorded two versions of the “Battle of New Orleans” - one for American audiences, and another for the British , Two points of view.
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.
I wanted to put forward “Waterloo” by ABBA, but the song doesn’t even mention the English and/or Prussians…
Gordon Sinclair’s hilariously fawning “The Americans” comes to mind.*
*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.
This. MASH and Catch 22 were also about Vietnam.
Wow! I haver never heard the British version before. Was it ever released?
British pop duo Haysi Fantayzee praising John Wayne:
And a German cover by Bienenstich:
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.
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:
Including Bismarck.
The movies, yes. The books, not so much. The author of MASH was not a fan of Alan Alda.
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.]
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.
You missed one. Sink the Bismarck! Then Raise Her! Then Sink Her Again!
According to Wiki, the English-language version of Fernando 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 shows the Jacobite rising of 1745, but I don’t think Bonny Prince Charlie would have considered himself a revolutionary.)
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.
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.)