Ballad of the Green Berets

"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is a patriotic song in the ballad style about the United States Army Special Forces. It is one of the few popular songs of the Vietnam War years to cast the military in a positive light and in 1966 became a major hit, reaching No. 1 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and four weeks on Cashbox. It was also a crossover smash, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and No. 2 on Billboard's Country survey. Ultimately, the song was named Billboard's #1 single for the year 1966 in a revised end-of-the-year chart, but the original chart showed "California Dreamin'" by The Mamas and the Papas at #1 and "Ballad of the Green Berets" at #10.[2] The two songs tied for #1 on the Cashbox end-of-the-year survey for 1966.

"The Ballad of the Green Berets"
Single by Barry Sadler
from the album Ballads of the Green Berets
B-side"Letter from Vietnam"
ReleasedJanuary 1966
RecordedDecember 1965
GenreCountry, folk, pop
Length2:27
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Robin Moore, Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler
Producer(s)Andy Wiswell[1]
Barry Sadler singles chronology
"The Ballad of the Green Berets"
(1966)		 "The 'A' Team"
(1966)

The song was written by then Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, beginning when he was training to be a Special Forces medic. The author Robin Moore, who wrote the book, The Green Berets, helped Sadler write the lyrics and get a recording contract with RCA Records.

The lyrics were written, in part, in honor of U.S. Army Specialist 5 James Gabriel, Jr., a Special Forces operator and the first native Hawaiian to die in Vietnam, who was killed by Viet Cong gunfire while on a training mission with the South Vietnamese Army on April 8, 1962.[3] One verse mentioned Gabriel by name, but it was not used in the recorded version.[4]

Sadler recorded the song and eleven other tunes in New York in December 1965. The song and album, "Ballads of the Green Berets," were released in January 1966. He performed the song on television on January 30, 1966 on The Ed Sullivan Show, and on other TV shows including Hollywood Palace and The Jimmy Dean Show.

Popularity

The song was the No. 1 hit in the U.S. for the five weeks, spanning March 1966 and the No. 1 hit on the Cashbox end of the year chart for 1966; also the No. 21 song of the 1960s as ranked by Joel Whitburn. The single sold more than nine million copies; the album, more than two million.

"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is currently used as one of the four primary marching tunes of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band.

In film

The song is heard in a choral rendition by Ken Darby in the 1968 John Wayne film, The Green Berets, based on Robin Moore's book. The film's score was not released as an album until Film Score Monthly released it in 2005. A movie tie-in featuring artwork from the film and a cover version by Ennio Morricone was released in Europe, though the album's other tracks were from A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.

The song appears in the films More American Graffiti and Canadian Bacon. It can also be heard in the gun show scene of the 2002 film Showtime, and in the film Jesus' Son, in a scene that features a hitch-hiking Jack Black.

A vinyl copy of "The Ballad of the Green Berets" makes a brief appearance in The Simpsons episode "Homer's Phobia", from the show's eighth season. Guest star and filmmaker John Waters is seen near the five-minute mark flipping through Homer and Marge's record collection; Sadler's hit is amongst them.

Bill Murray briefly sang "Green Berets" in the 1980 film Caddyshack during his final attempt to kill the gopher.

The cast of the 2018 movie 12 Strong sing the tune as their Chinook helicopter takes off.

Other versions derivatives

Many other American recording artists did their own versions of the song ranging from Kate Smith and Duane Eddy to unknown artists singing on various drugstore records.

The punk rock band The F.U.'s included their version of the song on their album This Is Boston, Not L.A.

Many versions in other languages are rewritten to reference local units; these include:

  • A German version (Hundert Mann und ein Befehl), sung by Freddy Quinn and later again by Heidi Brühl had considerable success in Germany. The German version is a song against the war. It rejects any sacrifice, not only for the son, but for the father as well. Freddy Quinn sings the song from the point of view of a reluctant but forced soldier, Heidi Bruhl from the point of view of the crying girlfriend of the soldier. Freddy Quinn's version was later recorded by Welle: Erdball and also by Cryptic Wintermoon.
  • The Royal Netherlands Army's Korps Commandotroepen (KCT) use the original lyrics. The only difference is that in the chorus, instead of singing "These are men, America's best", they sing "These are men, The Netherlands' best". Also in the final chorus, referring to the son of a deceased Green Beret, they sing "Make him one of The Netherlands' best". This version of the original ballad is sung to recruits who have successfully completed the harsh Basic Commando Training (ECO), and who receive their Green Beret.
  • Rhodesian singer-songwriter John Edmond recorded the "Ballad of the Green Berets" with reference to the soldiers of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), commando-style fireforce units of Rhodesian Security Forces who wore berets of green color, with a slight difference in the chorus, saying "These are men, of The Fatherland’s Best." & "Make him one of The Fatherlands best" A "Ballad of the Red Beret" was sung by the Rhodesian Ministry of Internal Affairs at their battlecamp in Chikurubi. In South Africa, the "Ballad of the Green Berets" was recorded as the "Ballad of the Maroon Berets". The Maroon beret is a symbol of the South African Special Forces Brigade and the South African 44 Parachute Regiment. Also this song was re-recorded by South African opera singer Leonore Veenemans as "My Land Suid-Afrika".
  • The Swedish version "Balladen om den blå baskern" is a salute to the Swedish soldiers serving in the United Nations' peace-keeping forces (the Blue Berets). It was sung by Anita Lindblom.
  • The Italian version is called La Ballata del Soldato, sung by Quartetto Cetra.
  • Since 2004, the Infantry Officer's School of the Swiss Armed Forces uses a quadrlingual (German, French, Italian and Rumansch) version of the song, Die Infanterieballade (The Infantry Ballad), as their anthem, in salute to the bonds created by the very harsh training undertaken by the cadets as well as to the sense of duty (and their motto, Exemplo Ducemus) they vow to respect. The lyrics were written by cadets from all linguistical regions of Switzerland.[5] It is sung everyday onwards to the morning roll call, before the National Anthem.
  • In 1966, Bernard Tapy (real name Bernard Tapie, businessman and politician), recorded an adaptation in French as "Passeport pour le soleil"[6]
  • The Ukrainian version 2015 100 Soldiers. Lyrics by Oleksa Negrebetskiy.[7]
  • Supporters of Liverpool Football Club sing a version with the lyrics adapted to the history of the club called "Liverbird upon my chest".
  • music adapted by the Portuguese paratroopers as an anthem Hino dos Boinas Verdes
  • The Lithuanian version of Liepa "Kartu iki pergalės" 2018 in TV show "support for Ukraine"
  • The Finnish version titled "Balladi punaisista bareteista" was released in 1966 by Kivikasvot. [8]

Parodies
  • In 1968, The Beach Bums, an ad hoc group featuring a young Bob Seger, recorded "The Ballad of the Yellow Beret", chronicling the adventures of a draft dodger. The record was withdrawn after a cease and desist letter from Sadler.
  • The Residents parodied the song on their Third Reich & Roll album.
  • Another parody was used on an episode of Saturday Night Live that William Shatner hosted in 1986, called "Ollie North, The Mute Marine". Shatner participated in the sketch, outfitted in a USMC Class A uniform, alluding to Oliver North's refusal to speak about his participation in the Iran-Contra Affair; Shatner spoke no words.
  • The song is used to humorous effect in Michael Moore's film Canadian Bacon as ill-informed Americans prepare for an invasion by Canada.
  • The movie Wag the Dog includes the fictitious unit 303 Special Forces' song "The Men of the 303", which is played to a similar but original tune written by Huey Lewis for the film.
  • In the film Caddyshack, Carl Spackler, played by Bill Murray, mumbles the song under his breath while he is connecting the wires to the plunger as he prepares for his final battle with his gopher nemesis.
  • Comedian Paul Shanklin parodied the song with "Ballad of the Black Beret", referring to the Clinton sex scandal, on his 1999 album Simply Reprehensible.
  • Though its usage was not a parody, in an episode of Cheers, Cliff Clavin aborts his plans to emigrate to Canada with his love interest when Sam, Woody, and Frasier appeal to his patriotic side by singing the song.
  • The internet critic SF Debris uses the music with lyrics about the Red Shirts in Star Trek who regularly die on away missions.

Charts

References
  1. "SSgt. Barry Sadler* - The Ballad Of The Green Berets". Discogs.
  2. "Top Records of 1966" Billboard December 24, 1966, p. 34. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  3. Mizutani, Ron (May 18, 2010). "First Native Hawaiian Killed in Vietnam Conflict Honored". KHON2.com. KHON-TV. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  4. I'm a Lucky One by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler (Macmillan 1967, pp. 80–81)
  5. "Die Infanterieballade". Admin.ch. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016.
  6. ≪Passeport pour le soleil. Bernard Tapy. 1966. RCA Victor≫, sur le site Encyclopédisque
  7. 100 бійців. 29 December 2014 – via YouTube.
  8. http://www.aanitearkisto.fi/firs2/kappale.php?Id=Balladi+punaisista+bareteista
  9. "Swedishcharts.com – STAFF SERGEANT BARRY SADLER - THE BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS". Singles Top 100.
  10. http://www.rock.co.za/files/sa_charts_1969_1989_songs_(A-B).html
  11. "Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  12. "SSgt Barry Sadler Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  13. "SSgt Barry Sadler Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  14. "SSgt Barry Sadler Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  15. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2018.

Further reading
  • Collins, Ace. Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs. HarperResource, 2003. ISBN 0-06-051304-7


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