A Soundtrack for my Life

The Royal Guardsmen were a rock band from Ocala, Florida, a sextet composed of Bill Balough (bass), John Burdett (drums), Chris Nunley (vocals), Tom Richards (guitar), Billy Taylor (organ), and Barry Winslow (vocals/guitar). Originally known as the Posmen, the band adopted their Anglophile monicker during the British Invasion, led by the Beatles and other British artists. They achieved fame with their first (vinyl) single, “Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron” in 1966, which was also the title of their first album the same year. Snoopy, the Red Baron, and aircraft became a recurring theme in their songs, though they did have some chart singles without those themes, including “Wednesday”, “I Say Love”, and the top 40 hit “Baby Let’s Wait”.

(The original single version of this song featured a spoken introduction by  “The Red Baron,” mentioning the then-current presidential candidates for the  1968 election. Unfortunately, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated just days after the  record had already been shipped to stores. Later pressings eliminated the spoken  intro.)

The time had come to elect a President
And all the famous candidates thought they were heaven-sent
They screamed and raved and pounded their hands above their hearts
But soon the noble promises were hard to tell apart

Waiting at the pumpkin patch, a dog sincere and brave
And everybody hoped that soon the country he would save
The pumpkin said “The day has come for you to take a stand”
“For love has left the people across our native land”

Some wear the sign of the elephant and some wear the sign of the mule
But we’ll hold the sign of the beagle high and love will shine right
through

All the politicians, they swore he couldn’t win
But Snoopy only shook his head and flashed his famous grin
He jumped into his faithful friend, the Sopwith Camel plane
And bounced around the countryside from Washington to Maine

Some wear the sign of the elephant and some wear the sign of the mule
But we’ll hold the sign of the beagle high and love will shine right
through

New York State was lookin’ bad till Snoopy made a speech
Soon Illinois and Tennessee were both within his reach
He won the vote in Oregon but time was growin’ thin
And back at the convention hall, the votes were pourin’ in

Snoopy smiled his way into the hearts of everyone
But when the votes were counted up, they found he needed one
The winning vote for Snoopy came when a stranger raised his hand
Snoopy turned, the stranger spoke
<voice of the Red Baron> “Mein friend, vee meet again!”

Some wear the sign of the elephant and some wear the sign of the mule…

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