Tanker's Song

The Tanker's Song is the unofficial anthem of America's Armored and Mechanized forces. It is an English language rendition of the "Panzerlied" (Armor Song), an older German military tune dating back to the 1930s: although it caught on among U.S. troops to a much larger degree than did the original within the Bundeswehr. The tune / music is the same while the lyrics are heavily modified to maintain the flow and rhyme scheme, but remain quite similar in spirit.

A version of the original German song:


 * http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROMWdGxgjWM

Original song's German lyrics & translation:


 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerlied#Lyrics_and_translation

Tanker's Song Lyrics  (Not related to the English translation of the original)
I.

Through thunder and snows, or the sun shining bright,

The days burning hot and the ice-cold of night,

Dust-covered are our faces, but happiness is ours - yeah, it is ours!

Proud roars our Armor through the stormy winds!

Proud roars our Armor through the stormy winds!

II.

With motors a-thunderin', fast as the lightning

At the hauty foe, like lancers a-charging

In front of all our comrades, always first to fight - yeah, first to fight!

So we're pushing deep into opposing might!

So we're pushing deep into opposing might!

III.

When the enemies' tank comes forth in challenge,

Pedal to the metal, driving for revenge,

What then matters life before our unstoppable might? - yeah, unstoppable might!

A death for Uncle Sam is our sacred rite!

A death for Uncle Sam is our sacred rite!

IV.

When traps, guns of cowards are blocking our attacks

Mocking their weakness, we stop churning tracks,

And though our hands start shaking in boiling righeous rage - yeah, righteous rage!

With patience we find paths no-one else can see!

With patience we find paths no-one else can see!

V.

And if Lady Luck withdraws her protection,

And if we never again see our nation,

When death's bullet calls us up to see the divine - yeah, the divine!

Then this tank becomes our glorious steel shrine!

Then this tank becomes our glorious steel shrine!

Significance / Parallelism
In reality, "das Panzerlied" was composed in 1933 and became one of Nazi Germany's most popular war songs. It gained recognition in the English-speaking world of our universe due to the 1965 film Battle of the Bulge, where the song is sung in the original language (while the rest of the time, the German characters speak English). During the Second World War, the Panzerlied became the unofficial anthem of the Panzertruppe / Panzerwaffen (the German armored troops).

In the Napoleon's Legacy Universe, its English adaptation serves as the anthem of the American armored forces. American tankers are famous for gathering around fires and drunkenly singing the song, or blaring it through their radios as they charge. It is one of the things most popularly-associated with American tanks, and armored fighting vehicles in general: the others being their distinctive uniforms (especially the jet black fabric and silver skull-and-crossbones pins of the proper tank crews' uniforms), a hyper-aggressive esprit de corps emphasizing almost-suicidal bravery, and a rather dangerous habit, strongly discouraged but nonetheless indulged, of using brake fluid to make boot-leg alcohol.