Ballad of the Green Berets

"The Ballad of the Green Berets"
Single by Barry Sadler
from the album Ballads of the Green Berets
B-side "Letter From Vietnam"
Released January 1966
Genre Country, folk, pop
Length 2:27
Label RCA Victor
Writer(s) Robin Moore, Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler
Producer(s) Andy Wiswell[1]
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Barry Sadler singles chronology
"The Ballad of the Green Berets"
(1966)
"The 'A' Team"
(1966)

"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is a patriotic song in the ballad style about the Green Berets, an elite special force in the U.S. Army. It is one of the very few songs of the 1960s to cast the military in a positive light and in 1966 it became a major hit, reaching No. 1 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and four weeks on Cashbox. Ultimately, the song was named Billboard's #1 single for the year 1966. It was also a crossover smash, reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and No. 2 on Billboard's Country survey.

The song was written by Robin Moore and Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, while the latter was recuperating from a leg wound suffered as a medic in the Vietnam War. Moore also wrote a book, The Green Berets, about the force. The tune itself is borrowed from the traditional American folk song "The Butcher Boy".

Lyrics include:

"Back at home a young wife waits

Her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her this last request

Put silver wings on my son's chest
Make him one of America's best
He'll be a man they'll test one day
Have him win the Green Beret"

The lyrics were written in honor of Green Beret James Gabriel, Jr., the first native Hawaiian who died in Vietnam, who was executed by the Viet Cong while on a training mission on April 8, 1962.[2] One verse was written in honor of Gabriel, but it never made it into the final version.[3]

Sadler debuted the song on television on January 30, 1966 on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Popularity

The song was the No. 1 hit in the U.S. for the five weeks encompassing March 1966 and the No. 1 hit on the Cashbox end of the year chart for 1966, and the No. 21 song of the 1960s as ranked by Joel Whitburn. "Green Berets" has sold over nine million singles and albums.

"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 Moore's book. The score of the movie was never released as an album until Film Score Monthly released it in 2005. A film tie-in featuring artwork from the film and a cover version by Ennio Morricone was released in Europe, though the other tracks on the album were soundtracks 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 be heard in the gun show scene from 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 "Caddyshack" during his final attempt to kill the gopher.

Covers and derivatives

Many American cover versions of the song appeared recorded by artists ranging from Kate Smith and Duane Eddy to unknown artists singing on various drugstore records.

The punk rock band The F.U.'s performed a cover of the song, featured on the album This Is Boston, Not L.A.

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

Parodies

Preceded by
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra
Billboard Hot 100 number one single
March 5, 1966 (five weeks)
Succeeded by
"(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" by The Righteous Brothers
Preceded by
"Crying Time" by Ray Charles
Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single (SSgt Barry Sandler version)
March 5, 1966 (5 weeks)
Succeeded by
"I Want to Go with You" by Eddy Arnold

References

Further reading

External links

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