Need some help with lyrics of WWII Glenn Miller song

ElmerKeith · Dec 31, 2013

Hello everybody,
first of all: there are only 7 hours left 'til 2013 will come to an end. 2014 is knocking at the door. Some people out there are already firing with fire crackers. Seems to be they can't wait.

From here south of the Teutoburger Wald area I wish you all the good things for 2014.

But I'll finish the year with a question that burdens me for years:

I can't find the lyrics of an old Glenn Miller WWII song: There are yanks from the banks of the wabash.

Is here anyone who can provide me with the lyrics? I can almost understand every word of this song but have some difficulties with some minor phrases!

Thank you very much and best wishes as well as good luck.

SgtLumpy · Dec 31, 2013

*****

From village and county
From factory and farm
They stopped what they were doin'
When they saw the trouble brewin'
And they heard the war goin' on

Eight million yanks have rizen to the fray
And there's more on the way

There are yanks from the banks of the wabash
There are yanks from the Arkansas plains
From the mountains of Montana
The Bayous of Lou-sianna
And the Moose country of Maine, of Maine

There are Yanks drivin' tanks toward the presence
And as sure as the sun will shine
That the yanks from the banks of the Wabash
Will be yanks who will watch on the line

From the Valleys of Virginia
And the towns of Tennessee
From the mud of Alabama
With a rifle on their knee

There are Okies there are crackers
Every color every creed
And they talk the only language
That the master race can read

*****

Sgt Lumpy

4506517 · Dec 31, 2013

That's awesome. A song like that could never come from America today.

Sad.

Buford57 · Dec 31, 2013

4506517 said:
That's awesome. A song like that could never come from America today.

Sad.

Yup. Might sound like we were taking sides.

ElmerKeith · Jan 4, 2014

Thank you very much for your help, SgtLumpy!

But with one line I do not agree if I may speak politely:

"Will be yanks who will watch on the line" sounds to me like

"will be yanks who will march on the (river) Rhine". Is that also possible?

@Buford57: I do not understand your Expression "Yup. Might sound like we were taking sides. " What does that mean"

And what are Okies and Crackers?

kamloops67 · Jan 4, 2014

Okies = citizens of Oklahoma
Crackers = texas cattle rancher( i may be off here, i think there are other meanings)

semperfi71 · Jan 4, 2014

kamloops67 said:
Okies = citizens of Oklahoma
Crackers = texas cattle rancher( i may be off here, i think there are other meanings)

"Crackers" began as a term for cowboys in Florida who used whips to herd cattle (if my memory is correct). Whips crack, hence "Crackers".

In later years, I do not know when, the term was used by some Americans of African descent to refer to Americans of Anglo Saxon descent. May still be used.

I love eating crackers so if I was ever called a "Cracker" I did not mind.

SgtLumpy · Jan 4, 2014

ElmerKeith said:
Thank you very much for your help, SgtLumpy!

But with one line I do not agree if I may speak politely:

"Will be yanks who will watch on the line" sounds to me like

"will be yanks who will march on the (river) Rhine". Is that also possible?

It certainly is possible. That particular line I think I hear pretty clearly. But there were a couple of others that I was trying to get from context.

"Crackers" - I was not aware of the Texas or Florida explaination. Those are perhaps more likely given the 1940s time period than the current day meaning of a white person (white like a soda cracker).

Sgt Lumpy

smokindog · Jan 4, 2014

iHeart Radio has the song in it's library

Glenn Miller & The Army Air Force Band - There Are Yanks (From the Banks of the Wabash) (Remastered 2001) (Remastered 2001) | Listen Free | iHeartRadio

Need some help with lyrics of WWII Glenn Miller song

ElmerKeith

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SgtLumpy

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4506517

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Buford57

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ElmerKeith

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kamloops67

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semperfi71

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SgtLumpy

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smokindog

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