Talk:Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree

What version
(From Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 August 11)

Who sung a version of Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree in this video? http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S54064KX -- JSH-alive talk • cont • mail 15:02, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Please do not spam Wikipedia with entries to advertisement sites.Britmax (talk) 23:05, 11 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I downloaded the clip. Unlikely to be spam in fairness, as it's a Japanese (?) ad for washing up liquid with Tie a Yellow Ribbon as the background song. In many ads, session musicians are used, as they are cheaper. I think this may be the case here. Fribbler (talk) 23:21, 11 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Korean ad. And the music is from studio album I guess. -- JSH-alive talk • cont • mail 01:35, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Korean? Oops!. Fribbler (talk) 08:07, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Discussion continues. JSH-alive talk • cont • mail 14:39, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Matthew Wilkening comment
I think this comment may be of value regarding the source, but does not belong in the article. ''Unfortunately for Matthew Wilkening, who is obviously an idiot, this song is not about returning soldiers! It's about an ex-convict who asks for the sign of a yellow ribbon from the woman he loves!''

Just out of interest this comment is fair. Matthew seems to think the song is about returning soldiers when anyone who has heard it knows that it is indeed about a prisoner returning home.

Britmax (talk) 19:47, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Reference to associating the yellow ribbon to support for soldiers and veterans.
there should be a Reference to associating the yellow ribbon to support for soldiers and veterans. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.166.64.42 (talk) 14:14, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

Why? If there is such a custom, it has nothing to do with the song.203.184.41.226 (talk) 06:36, 10 March 2013 (UTC)


 * This whole Wiki answer is incorrect— the song is about an American soldier coming home from Vietnam waiting to see if his girl still wants him, via the yellow ribbon around the tree (a tradition that started during the American Civil War. 2600:1700:1323:E800:2C7E:7698:FECE:C319 (talk) 01:35, 26 March 2024 (UTC)
 * You may be correct, but unless you have a reliable source to back up the claim, it should not be included in the article. Hence, I have reverted your edit. Feel free to restore it if you have a reliable source.
 * Sincerely, Nikolaj1905 (talk) 12:18, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Dramatized version- ABC-Tv
Iv been trying to find the dramatized version of the song where James Earl Jones plays the role of returning ex-con but I havent been successful. Has anyone seen the video? If so, Kindly reply with the link. Thanks! Suzanne Vandana (talk) 10:20, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Perry Como
Found this on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JJAXlE33I

No sign of information regarding Como's version in the article. So is this another cover? Lenzar (talk) 00:52, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Was his sentence duration two or three years?
Cheers, people. The lyrics mentions 2 years, not 3. Am I wrong? Best regards from Rio. — c.a.t. Carlos-alberto-teixeira (talk) 09:57, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

No, it's three, always has been. Britmax (talk) 10:27, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080913210001/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-40.shtml to http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-40.shtml
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160305064644/http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ to http://www.austchartbook.com.au/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 13:39, 31 December 2016 (UTC)

Similar story from Thailand
In his book, "The Father Heart of God", Christian author Floyd McClung relates a story that is very similar to the one told in this song (see https://clf.co.za/the-waiting-father/), except it takes place in Thailand, and the tree is a po tree, not an oak tree. I have no idea what Floyd McClung's source for the story is, but he does not mention this song with a single word. I wonder if the same story has arisen independently at two different places in the world, or if the Thai/McClung version is inspired by whoever-wrote it (McClung doesn't claim it as his own) having some kind of subconscious memory of having heard the Dawn song at some point (or conversely if the Thai version is the older one). Does anyone know?`Nikolaj1905 (talk) 12:21, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

Two versions by Dawn and Tony Orlando
What can we add to this page about the fact that at least two versions really were released by Dawn and Tony Orlando? About the history of this song and their recordings, I know nothing except what's in this Wikipedia article—and the recordings that I've heard. There really are two:
 * I have a Compact Cassette dub of the song made from the Compact Disc album Best Sellers of the 70's: Volume 1 (1996), where it's the ninth track. Here, Tony Orlando clearly sings "I wrote.  I told her 'Please.'"
 * The official OrlandoDawnVEVO channel at YouTube offers this version, where the lyric is clearly "I wrote and told her 'Please.'"

It's not just that one lyric that's different. They are two performances, clearly distinct from each other. If you try to line them up parallel in audio-editing software, no amount of merely stretching or compressing one version will make it match the other. They're quite similar, but not at all identical.

Can anyone shed light on this?

President Lethe (talk) 20:38, 29 March 2021 (UTC)