Ozzie Waters: A Rodeo Down in Tokyo and a Round-Up in Old Berlin (1943)

 |   |  <1 min read

Ozzie Waters: A Rodeo Down in Tokyo and a Round-Up in Old Berlin (1943)

While we might agree that war brings out the best and worst in people, it undeniably brings out the utterly atrocious when it comes to patriotic songs.

Most are sentimental, stridently nationalistic, simplistic to the point of insulting and largely forgettable other than for some unintentional humour in later years.

At From the Vaults we have posted a few which fall into all of those categories (see here, here for examples to turn your stomach or make you laugh) which makes you wonder why anti-war songs sound so persuasive?

There have always been those songs which almost make war in foreign parts sound fun too.

Ozzie Waters was known as the Colorado Ranger and was a prolific recording artist during and after the Second World war who also offered such sentimental delights as I'd Like to Give My Dog to Uncle Sam (below, a blind boy willing to sacrifice his guide dog for the war effort).

On this song he sure makes shooting, killing and bombing sound like a whole mess o' fun, y'all. Kinda makes you wanna saddle up the ol' pony and ride on down to the recruiting office, huh? 

For more one-offs, oddities or songs with an interesting backstory see From the Vaults

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Faster Pussycat: You're So Vain (1990)

Faster Pussycat: You're So Vain (1990)

Jac Holzman's Elektra was one of the most diverse record labels in the last half of the 20th century. He started it in 1950 and the first recording pressed (just a couple of hundred copies) was of... > Read more

Bob Dylan: Ballad in Plain D (1964)

Bob Dylan: Ballad in Plain D (1964)

With a few exceptions (the song about John Lennon's murder on his new album Tempest), Bob Dylan's songs have long since ceased to be about anyone in particular. And there's a case to be made... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Katchafire: On the Road Again (EMI)

Katchafire: On the Road Again (EMI)

The title song/opener here is appropriate: for most of the past decade this hard-working band have been playing everywhere from small town bars and main centres around New Zealand to... > Read more

LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSED, a film by DAVID TRUEBA (Madman DVD)

LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSED, a film by DAVID TRUEBA (Madman DVD)

When, at the end of 1966, John Lennon was going spare after a US tour where he was lambasted for his “Beatles more popular than Jesus” remarks, he took up the offer from Dick Lester... > Read more