SALUTE TO A SWITCHBLADE
(Tom T. Hall)


Tom T. Hall - 1970





Me and Yates, an army buddy o'mine
Were doin' three years in Germany at the time
We came upon these frauleins in a 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
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 swisshh
And I giggled all the way home knowin' he missed

At the time it seemed like a laughing matter

But next mornin' 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 be 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 bein' full of good soldiers and good people






(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - May 2012)