In blizzard or storm,
Or in sun warm and bright,
The day hot as hell
Or bone-chilling be the night,
Our faces may with dust be laid,
But spirits never fade,
No, never fade;
Relentless, our tank
Thunders out on a raid.
With engines a-howling,
Fast as is the wind,
We head for the foe,
Safe, as we're in armor skinned.
Our comrades still behind us roam;
We fight the foe alone,
Yes, fight alone.
We stab through the line
To break the foes backbone.
Whenever the foe
May appear in our sight,
We'll ram throttle full,
Then we'll humble all his might!
Of what use is our life if we
Our country serve freely?
Yes, serve freely!
To die for our country,
Our honour shall be.
With tank traps and mines,
Our foe tries to impede.
We laugh at his ruses;
We know he'll not suceed.
And when, in threat, his cannons stand,
Half hidden in the sand,
Yes, in the sand,
We can find our way
Over much safer land.
And should at long last,
Fickle Lady Luck leave,
And we remain here,
Leaving family to grieve,
A bullet with our name on it,
Find us and seal our fate,
Yes, seal our fate,
Our tank will our grave be
On that final date.
reply
share
MadTom
18 years ago
Retired US Army reserve component Armor/Cavalry officer here. Great having both the literal and rhyming English translations on this thread!
Notice that in the movie, they don't sing the whole song, they just repeat the first verse over and over.
The lyrics to the US Army's official counterpart to this song (simply known as "The Armor Song") are quite similar to the middle verses of Das Panzerlied (also known as Das Panzerwagenlied), basically about how Armor leads the way ahead of the Infantry and Artillery to drive a hole in the enemy's line. Ironically, the German song starts out rather innocuously, the first verse sounding almost like it's about the US Postal Service ("Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor gloom of night, etc, etc") but then the later verses get into how dying for your country is the greatest honor and how your tank will become your steel grave, stuff that would never get into an official US military song.
I hate having to admit it, but the melody to the US Army Armor song is (to use an ironic pun) rather pedestrian. I swear it sounds very similar to the "Mickey Mouse March", no joke! It's no wonder that civilians are unfamiliar with it, and the only time you ever hear it is at graduation from the Armor School. The German melody is so much more badassed!
reply
share
hstf
18 years ago
"Ironically, the German song starts out rather innocuously, the first verse sounding almost like it's about the US Postal Service ("Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor gloom of night, etc, etc") but then the later verses get into how dying for your country is the greatest honor and how your tank will become your steel grave, stuff that would never get into an official US military song."
Same with todays german military. The Song is still sung today, but only the first verse of it. :D
reply
share
MadTom
18 years ago
First verse only or not, still a much more bada$$ed melody than the US Army's counterpart. I can almost guarantee you that no American tanker in the entire 90 year history of the US Army Armor Corps ever got his blood up for battle by singing "The Armor Song".
Apart from traditional favorites like Garryowen and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, the US Army Cavalry Corps adopted a march by John Philip Sousa called Saber and Spurs as its official march. No lyrics, and not quite as bada$$ed a melody as Panzerlied, but you could still picture John Wayne galloping to it. Unfortunately, Saber and Spurs went by the wayside in 1949 when the Cavalry and Armor corps merged. They should've kept it and dropped "The Armor Song" instead!
reply
share
Mr_Sea
18 years ago
Absolutely one of the worst jobs of lip synching I have seen in a movie.
reply
share