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"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is a patriotic song in the ballad style about the Green Berets, an elite special force in the U.S. Army. It is one of the very few songs of the 1960s to cast the military in a positive light and in 1966 it became a major hit, reaching No. 1 for five weeks on the Hot 100 and four weeks on Cashbox. It was also a crossover smash, reaching No. 1 on ''Billboard's'' Easy Listening chart and No. 2 on ''Billboard's'' Country survey. The song was written by Robin Moore and Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler, while the latter was recuperating from a leg wound suffered as a medic in the Vietnam War. Moore also wrote a book, ''The Green Berets'', about the force. The tune itself is borrowed from the traditional American folk song "The Butcher Boy". Lyrics include: The lyrics were written in honor of Green Beret James Gabriel, Jr., the first native Hawaiian who died in Vietnam, who was executed by the Viet Cong while on a training mission on April 8, 1962. One verse was written in honor of Gabriel, but it never made it into the final version.〔''I'm a Lucky One'' by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler (Macmillan 1967, pp. 80–81)〕 Sadler debuted the song on television on January 30, 1966 on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. ==Popularity== The song was the No. 1 hit in the U.S. for the five weeks encompassing March 1966 and the No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100's end of the year chart for 1966, despite the competing "California Dreamin'", sharply dividing the popular music market, and the No. 21 song of the 1960s, even though the Vietnam War later became unpopular. The rivalry between "Green Berets" and "California Dreamin'" was so fierce that the two records tied for the No. 1 record of 1966, according to ''Cashbox''. "Green Berets" has sold over nine million singles and albums and was the top single of a year in which the British Invasion, led by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, continued to dominate the U.S. charts. For comparison, according to ''Billboard'', The Beatles' top hit in 1966 was "We Can Work It Out" (No. 16), while the Stones' top hit in 1966 was "Paint It, Black" (No. 21). "Green Berets" is currently used as one of the four primary marching tunes of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ballad of the Green Berets」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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