"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" is a song by Dawn featuring Tony
Orlando. It was written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and produced by
Hank Medress and Dave Appell, with Motown/Stax backing vocalist Telma
Hopkins, Joyce Vincent Wilson and her sister Pamela Vincent on backing vocals.
It was a worldwide hit for the group in 1973.
It reached number one on both the US and UK charts for four weeks in April 1973,
number one on the Australian charts for seven weeks from May to July 1973 and
number one on the New Zealand charts for ten weeks from June to August 1973. It
was the top-selling single in 1973 in both the US and UK.
In 2008, Billboard ranked the song as the 37th biggest song of all time in its
issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hot 100.
Synopsis The song is told from the point of view
of someone who has "done his time" but is uncertain if he will be welcomed
home. He writes to his love, asking her to tie
a yellow ribbon around the "ole oak tree" in front of the house if she wants
him to return to her life; if he does not see such a ribbon, he will remain on
the bus and understand her reasons. He asks the bus driver to check, fearful of
not seeing anything. To his amazement, the entire bus cheers
the response – there are 100 yellow ribbons around the tree, a sign he is
very much welcome. Origins of the song
The story of a convict who had told his love to tie a ribbon book to a tree
outside of town is an American folk tale, dating to before 1959. The origin
of the idea of a yellow ribbon as remembrance may have been the 19th
century practice that some women allegedly had of wearing a yellow ribbon
in their hair to signify their devotion to a husband or sweetheart serving in
the U.S. Cavalry. The song "'Round Her Neck She Wears a Yeller Ribbon", which
later inspired the John Wayne movie She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, is a reference to
this. The symbol of a yellow ribbon became widely known in civilian life in
the 1970s as a reminder that an absent loved one, either in the military or in
jail, would be welcomed home on their return.
In October 1971, newspaper columnist Pete Hamill wrote a piece for the New
York Post called "Going Home". In it, he told a variant of the story, in which
college students on a bus trip to the beaches of Fort Lauderdale make friends
with an ex-convict who is watching for a yellow handkerchief on a roadside oak in
Brunswick, Georgia. Hamill claimed to have heard this story in oral tradition.
In June 1972, nine months later, Reader's Digest reprinted "Going Home".
Also in June 1972, ABC-TV aired a dramatized version of it in which James
Earl Jones played the role of the returning ex-con. According to L.
Russell Brown, he read Hamill's story in the Reader's Digest, and suggested to
his songwriting partner Irwin Levine that they write a song based on it.
Levine and Brown then registered for copyright the song which they called
"Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree". At the time, the writers said
they heard the story while serving in the military. Pete Hamill was not
convinced and filed suit for infringement. Hamill dropped his suit
after folklorists working for Levine and Brown turned up archival versions of the
story that had been collected before "Going Home" had been written.
Levine and Brown first offered the song to Ringo Starr, but Al Steckler of ABKCO
told them that they should be ashamed of the song and described it as
"ridiculous". Chart and sales performance
In April 1973, the recording by Tony Orlando and Dawn reached No. 1 in the
Billboard Hot 100 in the US, and stayed at No. 1 for four weeks. "Tie A Yellow
Ribbon" sold 3 million records in the US in three weeks. It also reached No. 1 on
the Adult Contemporary chart, and BMI calculated that radio stations had
played it 3 million times from seventeen continuous years of airplay. Billboard
ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1973. It also reached No. 1 in the UK and
Australia, and has sold 1 million copies in the UK.
Cover versions The song enjoyed duplicate success on
country radio, as a cover version by Johnny Carver. Carver's rendition -
simply titled "Yellow Ribbon" - was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country
Singles chart in June 1973. Carver's version also reached Number One on the
RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. Musically similar, the only difference
in the song is the substitution of the minor expletive "damn" with "darn."
Also in 1973, Jim Nabors covered the song on his album The Twelfth of Never.
Also in 1973, Italian singer Domenico Modugno had a minor hit in Italy with a
cover in his language: Appendi un nastro giallo. The lyrics are a very faithful
translation of the original, down to the same amount of years in prison - only
difference is that instead of watching the tree from a bus, the Italian singer
watches it from a tram. In Chile, England music Roberto Inglez
He achieved great success with his version, which was number one on the
national radio for the September 11, 1973.
Later in 1973, Connie Francis had a minor hit in Australia with an answer
song, "The Answer" Her version remained in the top 40 for three weeks, peaking
at number 31,and Kay Starr did a version of this song on the country pop charts
in 1974 hitting number 12. Around 1974 the song was also covered by
Hong Kong singing artist Agnes Chan. The song was also covered by Bobby
Goldsboro on a multi-artist compilation album entitled Storytellers released in
1976. In 1977, the song was sung by Andy
Kaufman playing his character Tony Clifton on HBO.
The song had renewed popularity in 1981, in the wake of the Iranian hostage
crisis. The song was performed by David Allen
Grier over the closing credits of Amazon Women on the Moon.
In 1999 S Club 7 performed the song for their hit TV series Miami 7. It was
featured in the second episode. The song was also covered by SHINee
during their 1st Japan Arena Tour "Shinee World 2012" starting with SHINee
Fukuoka arena tour on April 25, 2012 and ending with SHINee Hiroshima arena tour
on July 1, 2012. They also performed the same song throughout their 2nd Asia Tour
"Shinee World II" in various countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, China and
Singapore. The song was covered by Eric D. Johnson
and appears on the soundtrack for the 2011 film Our Idiot Brother starring
Paul Rudd. The song is used over the opening credits as Rudd is released from
prison after serving time for selling marijuana to a uniform police officer.
In 2014, a cover version was sung by Cuban stars Silvio Rodríguez, Amaury
Pérez, Los Cinco, Kiki Corona, Luna Manzanares, Gretell Barreiro and the
famous classical pianist Frank Fernández. This version, sung in
English, was a protest asking Barack Obama to free three Cuban activists kept
in a Miami prison. The following list is a minute portion of the thousands of
artists who have recorded this song: Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin,
Montovani, Tony Orlando and Dawn, Dolly Parton, Johnny Ray, Perry Como, Jim
Neighbors, Ray Conniff, Ferrante and Teicher, Connie Francis, Johnny Carver,
Ray Anthony, Al Hirt, Dominico-Mudugno, Roger Williams, Henry Mancini, James
Last, SHIN-ee, Association with the People Power
Revolution In the Philippines, the song was best
known for its use in the return of exiled politician Benigno Aquino, Jr. to
the country in 1983, during which Aquino supporters tied yellow ribbons on trees
in anticipation of his arrival. However, Aquino was assassinated upon arrival,
sparking the rise of People Power three years later that led to the demise of
Ferdinand Marcos' presidency and subsequent inauguration of Aquino's
widow Corazon Aquino as president. Yellow was also the campaign symbol of
Aquino's son who eventually became President Benigno Aquino III in 2010.
Association with the 2014 Hong Kong Protests
During the 2014 Hong Kong Protests the song was routinely performed by
pro-democracy protestors and sympathetic street musicians as a reference to the
yellow ribbons that had become a popular symbol of the movement on site and on
social media. Journalists covering the event described use of the tune as a
protest song. See also
List of number-one singles of 1973 List of Hot 100 number-one singles of
1973 List of number-one adult contemporary
singles of 1973 List of number-one singles from the
1970s References