Commando (Covered by The Hawkbirds)

Details

Description

The Hawkbirds covering the Ramones track, “Commando”.

The song, believed to have been written by Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone, was released in 1977, on their album Leave Home. “Commando” exemplifies the Ramones’ fierce attitude, as they take on the social issues relevant at that time. The subtle clues regarding the anti-communist sentiment can be found in the repeating lyrics, most likely written through Johnny’s conservative perspective. The verses indicate that soldiers are getting ready to go to Vietnam to combat communism, after leaving Germany. The “call-and-response chorus” provides evidence, by the mention of “kosher salamis”, that, possibly humorously, the intended focus is of a Jewish soldier. Highlighting militaristic and political issues via music is the true spirit of punk rock, which the Ramones cleverly coupled with catchy riffs and melodies, making them the quintessential punk band.

Lyrics…

🎶 They do their best, do what they can,
They get them ready for Vietnam.
From old Hanoi to East Berlin
Commando involved again.
They do their best, do what they can
They get them ready for Vietnam.

First rule is….The laws of Germany.
Second rule is….Be nice to mommy.
Third rule is….Don’t talk to commies.
Fourth rule is….Eat kosher salamis.

They do their best, do what they can,
They get them ready for Vietnam.
From old Hanoi to East Berlin
Commando involved again.
They do their best, do what they can
They get them ready for Vietnam.

First rule is….The laws of Germany.
Second rule is….Be nice to mommy.
Third rule is….Don’t talk to commies.
Fourth rule is….Eat *vegan salamis.. 🎶
(*changed from kosher)

Brown Bear sits upon the shelf with a heart full of courage, dreaming of joining the armed forces in order to serve his country. 🫡 Fully dressed in camouflage, he imagines saluting his superiors, bravely defending his platoon from danger on the front lines, and writing letters from his foxhole, waiting for the moment he can return home to his true love, Rose. ❤️🧸🐇❤️

Our cover was recorded on 10/14/24 in our basement studio, on 6 separate tracks (vocals, lead guitar, bass guitar, bass drum, toms/snare, and cymbals) using a Zoom H6 audio interface, and mixed with GarageBand. A new pair of Sennheiser HD-660S2 headphones, and an AudioEngine DAC3 amplifier, are helping to balance the sound highlight and each instrument during the mixing process. All of the different speakers out there, from phone and TVs to HiFi systems and monitors all sound unique, but with your help, we can smooth it all out. Thank you so much for all of your feedback, which continues to help us reproduce better sound. Keep your comments coming!

The Hawkbirds members-
👩🏼 Sunflower Hawkbird - Lead vocals and bass guitar
👩🏻‍🦰 Mom Hawkbird - Lead guitar and back up vocals
🧑🏻 Dad Hawkbird - Drums
🧸 Brown Bear - Audio engineer

Thank you for watching our videos... We are so grateful for all of your positivity and encouragement! We are honored to know you, and absolutely love all of you! ❤️👩🏻‍🦰👩🏼🧸🧑🏻❤️