Salute to a Switchblade Songtext

von Tom T. Hall

Me and Yates an army buddy o'mine
Were doin' three years in Germany at the time
We came upon these Frauleins in the bar
Yates said, "Darf isch zee be-gleit-en?", they said "Ya"
And 'Darf isch zee be-gleit-en means?', 'Can we sit with you all?'

Oh we must have drunk ten quarts of German beer
My conscience and my sinuses were clear
I asked that Fraulein if she was a spy
She said, "Nein but do bis ain bissel high"
A condition not uncommon to the American soldier

Well, later on I went to be excused
When I returned I was a bit confused
Yates and his Fraulein had hit the air
Another guy was sittin' in my chair
A young soldier whom we shall get to know better

I said, "Excuse me mister that's my seat
I'd like to have it back sir if you please
That girl's a nurse and I've been awful sick"
The man looked up at me and said, "Mox-nix"
Which means that he was not overly concerned with my health

Next thing I knew he had a switchblade knife
Oh Lord, I didn't know that Fraulein was his wife
I took off through that Gasthaus like a fool
Behind me I heard the crashing stools
As the police would say, he was in hot pursuit

Well, the waitress yelled there's MPs on the way
That's one more reason I didn't want to stay
As I went out the window somethin' went switch
And I giggled all the way home knowin' he missed
At the time it seemed like a laughing matter

But next morning my coat was lyin' there on the bunk
And when I saw that coat it made me jump
That man had cut my coat right down the back
A little bit more and they'd been playin' me taps
And knowin' the sad nature of that song I would decline it

Well, later on I heard that guy got stabbed
They sent him home and didn't that make me glad
On love and marriage I want to say one thing
Oh lady, if you're married wear that ring
And the army has a new policy if you can't move it, paint it
If it has a switchblade knife, salute it
Not necessarily an incident one would want to write mother about
Germany being full of good soldiers and good people