Pearl Harbor Blues
1942.
December the seventh, nineteen hundred and forty one
On December the seventh, nineteen hundred and forty one
The Japanese flew over Pearl Harbor, droppin' bombs by the ton
The Japanese is so ungrateful, jus' like a stray dog on the street
Yes the Japanese is ungrateful, like a stray dog on the street
Well he'll bite the hand that feeds 'm, soon as he get enough to eat
Some say the Japanese is hard fighters, but any dummy ought to know
Some say the Japanese is hard fighters, but any dummy ought to know
Even a rattlesnake won't bite you in your back, he will warn you before he strikes his blow
I turned on my radio and I heard mister Roosevelt say
I turned on my radio and I heard mister Roosevelt say
We wanted to stay out of Europe and Asia, but now we all got a debt to pay
We even sold the Japanese brass and scrap iron, and it makes my blood boil in the vein
We sold the Japanese brass and scrap iron, and it makes my blood boil in the vein
Cause they made bombs and shells out of it, and they dropped it on Pearl Harbor just like rain.
Notice that the song compares the Japanese to dogs and rattlesnakes, two more of the ways that he Japanese were regarded during the war. Both would put them in the subhuman category. The concept of treachery is also referred to in the part about the rattlesnake at least warning a person before he strikes.
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