Every New Zealand #1 single…
3
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree
Topped the NZ chart: from 1 June 1973 for 10 weeks
The past is a foreign country. It sounds irredeemably corny now. But ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree’ was the biggest-selling song of 1973 according to Billboard. It was also huge in New Zealand, topping the charts for 10 weeks.
It was written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown. They were inspired by an article in Reader’s Digest about a soldier heading home from the Civil War. By letter, the soldier asked his beloved to tie a yellow handkerchief around the tree if he was still welcome. Released in 1973, it struck a chord with families expecting soldiers home from Vietnam.
We put it on a tape recorder, jumped up, listened to it one time and gave ourselves a powerful high-five. We both knew that it was fabulous and that’s the story of how we wrote it.
Not how we got it recorded, that was another story. Nobody wanted to hear it. We first played it for Ringo Starr. The people who listened for Ringo Starr put their hands on the guitar and said I should be ashamed of showing songs like this to people. It’s ridiculous about a ribbon in a tree. We should be ashamed of ourselves. It could ruin us and to never show this song to anybody again.
Interview with L. Russell Brown, cowriter of ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree
It’s a hard song to rate. There’s a serviceable tune, and an interesting story. It’s a huge improvement on ‘Knock Three Times’, Levine and Brown’s previous hit for Tony Orlando and Dawn.
There’s probably a much better version of this song out there. The presentation of this version is a little too icky, with Orlando’s smarmy cocktail lounge vocals coupled with smooth country backing.
The band largely wound up in the late 1970s, but attempted a comeback with 1991’s ‘With Every Yellow Ribbon (That’s Why We Tie ‘Em)’.
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This is one of those story songs they used to have that were big in the 60s and 70s. But usually they had like a mystery aspect to it and like a surprise ending or a twist ending. This is more like a sentimental one. With a happy ending. I think it’s cheesy but nice. It’s really tuneful anyway. Can you believe these guys had their own TV show?? My God.
I believe it. I mean, it was like they gave everyone a variety show in the 1970’s. Thank god that era is over.
Would be kind of interested to see the Lil Nas X show or the Cardi B show. Probably doesn’t work with no monoculture anymore.
Twists are kind of overrated – I kind of liked the Pina Colada song the first time, but it’s not surprising the second time. I think the lyrics are the best part here.
Yeah but sometimes these story songs were kind of like movies and at the end they revealed something like who the murderer was or what was really going on, or the narrator turns out to be the actual bad guy or something. Pina Colada was one of those amusing twists that I actually like too.
I wonder if someone’s done an hour-long prog song like that?
I remember that this song got slightly big again during Gulf War Number One. Looking at Wikipedia, it’s had significance in other countries, too. From Wikipedia: “In the Philippines, the song was best known for its use in the return of exiled politician Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983, when supporters tied yellow ribbons on trees in anticipation of his arrival. However, Aquino was assassinated at Manila International Airport. This sparked protests and the People Power three years later that led to the overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos’ regime, and the accession of his opponent, Aquino’s widow Corazón.”
There was kind of a reworked version in 1991 too. That’s a pretty interesting story.
God, what convinced you to write about this song?
I’m covering every NZ number one hit. I use a random date generator to choose what comes next.
When I first started my blog I should I would cover The World of All Music as if it was some sort of mission. But I soon realized that would be too much effort, especially for stuff I didn’t like. That song is ok but largely, I think, forgettable.
I don’t think I want to review a Tony Orlando and Dawn album, but they’re kind of interesting in their own weird way.
I’ll take your word for it.
This takes me back, I do remember this song back in 1973 when I was the tender age of 12. It’s one of those songs that I neither really liked nor disliked.
I think, coming in as a younger person, who didn’t hear it until a lot later, it’s pretty kitsch in retrospect.
While I knew the name Tony Orlando, I couldn’t have named one of his songs. That said, I can confirm I’ve heard this before, likely on the radio back in Germany while growing up there. I guess it sounds very ’70s easy listening.
Yeah, it had well and truly fallen out of rotation by the time I was old enough to listen. It’s very kitsch.
Is the Green Green Grass of home on the list the two songs are somehow connected in my mind.
Green, Green Grass of Home makes sense as a companion piece. It didn’t make number one in NZ though.
I’m not sure what that’s says about NZ. Too much sense or not enough sense.
E Humperdinck was topping the charts here around the same time.
The song was also used in 1979 for the hostages in Iran…yellow ribbons were everywhere. It’s a decent pop song with a catchy chorus. Personally I got tired of it way back when.
I try to take songs in context of the time they were made.
Sometimes I think that time is the great revealer. Much easier to tell the great stuff in hindsight. Although also instructive to see what holds up to constant radio bombardment.
I think the song is better than the delivery.
Thats an interesting thought…I do agree the song is better than the delivery.
Maybe I think way too deep on it…but 30 years ago the disco era was scorned…but now not only people like it…they mimic it in modern songs….so I guess time also can ebb and flow.
Now…to me…no amount of time can rescue “Safefy Dance” and some other songs.
For sure. 1980s music was pretty LOL when I was a teenager in the 1990s, but now it’s the ultra-serious rockers like Creed and Nickelback that sound ridiculous.
I agree with you 100 percent.