Slightly OT: Snoopy vs The Red Baron

The following translation is very loose--I took it directly from the site given. Rather than "of all the trees most lovely", the literal translation of the second line is "you can please me very much" or perhaps "you can make me so happy."

Marty

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum, [Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree] du kannst mir sehr gefallen! [Of all the trees most lovely]

The news had come out in the First World War The bloody Red Baron was flying once more The Allied command ignored all of its men And called on Snoopy to do it again.

Twas the night before Christmas, 40 below When Snoopy went up in search of his foe He spied the Red Baron, fiercely they fought With ice on his wings Snoopy knew he was caught.

Christmas bells those Christmas bells Ring out from the land Asking peace of all the world And good will to man

The Baron had Snoopy dead in his sights He reached for the trigger to pull it up tight Why he didn't shoot, well, we'll never know Or was it the bells from the village below.

Christmas bells those Christmas bells Ringing through the land Bringing peace to all the world And good will to man

The Baron made Snoopy fly to the Rhine And forced him to land behind the enemy lines Snoopy was certain that this was the end When the Baron cried out, "Merry Christmas, my friend"

The Baron then offered a holiday toast And Snoopy, our hero, saluted his host And then with a roar they were both on their way Each knowing they'd meet on some other day.

Christmas bells those Christmas bells Ringing through the land Bringing peace to all the world And good will to man

ACK!

Sorry--I guess I got the wrong song.

Here we go again. Translating myself, I say the German means "Pay attention! We will now sing together the story of the pig-headed Hound and the much-loved Red Baron."

Marty

Snoopy vs The Red Baron

Achtung, jetzt wir [z]ingen [z]usammen die Geschichte over den schweinkopfigen Hund und dem lieben Red Baron ...

After the turn of the century In the clear blue skies over Germany Came a roar and a thunder man had never heard Like the screaming sound of a big war bird Up in the sky, a man in a plane Baron von Richthofen was his name Eighty men tried, and eighty men died Now they're buried together in the countryside

Chorus: Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more The Bloody Red Baron was running up the score Eighty men died trying to end that spree Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany

In the nick of time, a hero arose A funny-looking dog with a big black nose He flew into the sky to seek revenge But the Baron shot him down; "Curses, foiled again!"

Chorus

Now Snoopy swore he'd get that man So he asked the Great Pumpkin for a new battle plan He challenged the German to a real dogfight While the Baron was laughing, he got him in his sight

The Bloody Red Baron was in a fix He tried everything but he'd run out of tricks Snoopy fired once and he fired twice And the Bloody Red Baron went spinning out of sight

the words are real, In fact I just listened to it again to refresh my memory.

If spelling doesn't count, it runs something like this

"Achtung, jetzt, wir singen zusammen die Geschichte der schweinkopfen Hund und der liebte "Red Baron"."

the "red Baron" part is NOT german, the sentence structure (in german) is all wrong, the english translation (more or less) is

"Attention, now we sing together the history the pigheaded dog and the loved "Red Baron"."

In at least one version that I have heard, Snoopy's name was also mentioned right after the "pigheaded dog" part.

Now having said all that, it HAS been more than 40 years since I last read or wrote in german, so if someone else has a better translation, I won't be offended.

bob

Gee Thanks DR, now I will have that song going in my head for a few days:) rick markel

Wow, thanks guys! Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

I think that is S vs RB part II.

Here are the original lyrics by the Royal Guardsmen-

Embarrassed to admit, I still get goosebumps from the Dopplered engines and thudding machine guns, and the hyperbolized "Screamin' sound o' that big war bird". Bill(oc)

Actually, the first translation was much closer. The word verdammt meaning damn wasn't used so the cussing was not accurate as translated by The Natural Philosipher. As was stated earlier, the sentence structure is mostly wrong but otherwise a clever use of words. I loved this song when I was a kid and still do.

Herr Wassmer Und ja, Ich spreche Deutsch!

I was taught when translating to go from the vernacular to te vernacular if at all possible.

"De Heffalumpi, semper disputandum est".