just thought you all should know, since I don't think people who are covering their Hummers and SUVs with them have even heard the song and listened to the insipid lyrics
2007-03-16 05:37:03 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
Oh my gosh you're kidding me! Let's track down Tony Orlando and tie him up with yellow ribbons!
In other news...did you know that the next line in the Iggy Pop song "Lust for life" after "I got a lust for life" is "with liquer and drugs!" But that's used in those admired commercials so I guess that's ok.
2007-03-16 06:06:57 · answer #1 · answered by charlie_the_carpenter 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The most important lyric in that whole song is the ending. When the guy turned the corner and saw 100 yellow ribbons tied around that old oak tree.
I know the soldiers see the symbolism of that lyric and I bet all of them would also love to see 100 yellow ribbons tied around whatever kind a tree that their parents, their house or apartment complex have in their front yard when they return. Because it symbolizes to them how much they have been missed and wanted.
That lyric has choked me up every time I've heard it or tried to sing it. So believe me it no longer has anything to do with a paroled felon coming home to his family. It now symbolizes how we want to be welcomed home, especially if we are young men and women in a war zone.
2007-03-16 12:59:56 · answer #2 · answered by Mikira 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the song WAS about a paroled felon. But the yellow ribbons have come to symbolize missing someone and waiting for their return.
2007-03-16 12:43:16 · answer #3 · answered by kj 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Of course you are correct, but the song was adopted LONG AGO to represent our returning troops. Many songs have been "adapted" to represent something good, and/or hopeful, and this is a perfect example of that. For many family members, or friends, it hasnt been " 3 long years ", but they still use the yellow ribbon to show they are supporting someone who is far away from home, and that they are being missed.
2007-03-16 12:42:48 · answer #4 · answered by lovelylady6010 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Of course I know that...the first line of the song is...
I'm coming home I've done my time.
Ask me something harder.
Yellow ribbons (no matter how they got started) have become a symbol of waiting for a Loved one to return and you should not try and put a negative spin on it.
Have some respect for our Soldiers and missing Children who by the way have yellow ribbons put up for them.
2007-03-16 12:55:28 · answer #5 · answered by MSJP 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
'Round the old oak tree, it's been three long years, do you still want me...
The original ribbon campaign was the RED ribbon campaign started when the AIDS crisis came to the public forefront in the mid '80's. Folks have a ribbon now for everything.
As a sidebar, it's a pretty insipid war.
2007-03-16 12:43:48 · answer #6 · answered by jake78745 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes, I did know that - I've heard the song, and the lyrics are very sweet. The felon is very penitent and reformed, and asks his family to tie a ribbon on the tree if they want him to come home, and if he doesn't see a ribbon he'll just keep on going. To his surprise, the tree is covered with hundreds of ribbons...and he knew his family wanted him home.
The message is: "Your family wants you home." it's a good message, and while soldiers are not criminals the message of "your family wants to see you come home" is a good one.
2007-03-16 12:42:28 · answer #7 · answered by daisyk 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I knew...but today's yellow ribbons symbolize a different thing -- support for our troops.
2007-03-16 12:56:00 · answer #8 · answered by napqueen 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Aren't the first words of the song...
"I'm coming home I've done my time...."?
so yes. I always knew that. It's pretty clear in the song what's going on.
2007-03-16 12:58:21 · answer #9 · answered by Morey000 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Actually the yellow ribbon goes back much farther than that.
In the United States military, the symbol of the yellow ribbon is used in a popular marching song:
Round her neck she wears a yeller ribbon,
She wears it in winter and the summer so they say,
If you ask her "Why the decoration?"
She'll say "It's fur my lover who is fur, fur away.
The lyrics were altered and the song was titled She Wore a Yellow Ribbon by Russ Morgan for the 1949 movie of the same name:
Around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon
She wore it in the springtime
And in the month of May
And if you ask me why the heck she wore it
She wore it for her soldier who was far far away
Far away, far away
She wore it for her soldier
Who was far, far away
Around the block she pushed a baby carriage
She pushed it in the springtime
And in the month of May
And if you ask me why the heck she pushed it
She pushed it for her soldier who was far far away
Far away, far away
She pushed it for her soldier
Who was far, far away
Behind the door her daddy kept a shotgun
He kept it in the springtime
And in the month of May
And if you ask me why the heck he kept it
He kept it for her soldier who was far far away
Far away, far away
He kept it for her soldier
Who was far, far away
2007-03-16 12:51:24 · answer #10 · answered by cheri b 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋