Tom T. Hall - Salute To A Switchblade lyrics

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