Der Erste Weltkrieg in der Popkultur - Snoopy vs. The Red Baron

Bei all der seriösen Erinnerungsgewalt zum Ersten Weltkrieg in diesem Jahr 2014 wenden wir uns nun den Spuren zu, die dieser Krieg in der Popkultur hinterlassen hat. Mitten in den Beatles-seligen sechziger Jahren widmete sich die amerikanische Gruppe "The Royal Guardsmen" der Legende vom Roten Baron, dem deutschen Kampfflieger Manfred von Richthofen.

Aber sie brauchte dafür eine ironische Brechung, und die war nicht ihr eigener origineller Einfall: Der kam von Charles M. Schulz, dem Erfinder von „Snoopy“, dem Hund aus der Serie "Peanuts". 1966 erschien der Comic und im selben Jahr der Song, in dem Snoopy davon träumt, den Roten Baron vom Himmel zu holen:

Snoopy vs. The Red Baron

Achtung, jetz wir singen zusammen 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 the 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 on the countryside

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!"

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

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 dog fight

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 that Bloody Red Baron went spinning out of sight

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

Well, 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

Und hier ist die animierte Version des Comic Strips:

Falls nicht vorhanden, hier klicken

P.S.: I like Snoopy.