Salute To A Switchblade

[Verse:] Me and Yates an army buddy o'mine Were doin' three years in Germany at the time We came upon these Frauleins in the 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 Oh 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 switch And I giggled all the way home knowin' he missed At the time it seemed like a laughing matter But next morning 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 been 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 being full of good soldiers and good people