Album: Johnny Horton Makes History (1960)

Charted: 3

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• In May of nineteen forty-one the war had just begun
  The Germans had the biggest ship, they had the biggest guns
  The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea
  On her deck were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees
  
  Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship, the Hood
  And every British seaman, he knew and understood
  They had to sink the Bismarck, the terror of the sea
  Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees
  
  We'll find the German battleship that's makin' such a fuss
  We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
  Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around
  When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down
  
  The Hood found the Bismarck on that fatal day
  The Bismarck started firin' fifteen miles away
  "We gotta sink the Bismarck" was the battle sound
  But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down
  
  For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail
  Churchill told the people "put every ship a-sail
  'Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she's gotta be
  We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea"
  
  We'll find that German battleship that's makin' such a fuss
  We gotta sink the Bismarck 'cause the world depends on us
  Hit the decks a-runnin' boys and spin those guns around
  When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down
  
  The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the mornin' sun
  Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
  The admiral of the British fleet said "turn those bows around
  We found that German battleship and we're gonna cut her down"
  
  The British guns were aimed and the shells were comin' fast
  The first shell hit the Bismarck, they knew she couldn't last
  That mighty German battleship is just a memory
  "Sink the Bismarck" was the battle cry that shook the seven seas
  
  We found that German battleship been makin' such a fuss
  We had to sink the Bismarck 'cause the world depends on us
  We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around
  Yeah, we found the mighty Bismarck and prepared to cut her down
  
  We found that German battleship been makin' such a fuss
  We had to sink the Bismarck 'cause the world depends on us
  We hit the deck a-runnin' and we spun those guns around
  We found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down Writer/s: Johnny Horton, Tillman Franks
  Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 11

• Randy In Wv from Wvto Ed in Massachusetts 7/19/22
  been trying to find those lyrics too
  also heard on pandora
  still looking .....
• Brody Steele from Orland Indianai always found songs of battle to be quite inspiring
• Ed from MassachusettsThere is a version of this song I cannot find that includes missing versus that I've heard on Pandora. I have been a Johnny Horton fan since the late 1960s.
• Carl C from Philadelphia, PaJohnny Cash released Don’t take Your Guns To Town in 1958. Listen to it and compare to Sink The Bismarck. But for the lyrics they sound almost the same
• Robert from West ChesterWasn't there a German version of this song, also sung by Johnny Horton ?
• Jennifur Sun from RamonaLOVE the drummer on this tune. my late dad loved this song, and always think of him when i hear it.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn May 27th 1941, the British Navy and Air Force sunk the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic; 2,086 German sailors perished, only 114 survived...
  Exactly nineteen years later on May 27th, 1960 Johnny Horton's "Sink the Bismarck" was at #15 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; one month and two days earlier on April 25th it had peaked at #3 for one week...
  {See the next post}.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn May 1st 1960, Johnny Horton performed "Sink The Bismark" on the CBS-TV program 'The Ed Sullivan Show'...
  Two months earlier on March 7th, 1960 it entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #69; and on April 25th it peaked at #3 (for 1 week) and spent 18 weeks on the Top 100...
  It reached #6 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart...
  The week it peaked at #3 on the Top 100; the #1 record was "Stuck On You" by Elvis and at #2 was "Greenfields" by the Brothers Four...
  Between 1959 and 1962 he had eight Top 100 hits; three made the Top 10 and one reached #1, "The Battle of New Orleans', for 6 weeks in 1959...
  This appearance on the 'Sullivan' show came one day after his 35th and final birthday; six months later on November 5th, 1960 he would die in an auto crash in Texas...
  May 'The Singing Fisherman' R.I.P.
• Tim from West Chester, PaThis song was covered by The Blues Brothers, at Bob's Country bunker... but was cut from the film before release.
• Fred from Laurel, Md"In May of 1941, the war had just begun," . . . of course, the war had already been going on for almost two years by then, except here in the U.S., where it hadn't yet begun; although we *were* assisting the Brits with the Lend-Lease program, and Nazi subs were patrolling our coast. According to the wikipedia page, it looks like the Bismarck's mission was to interdict Lend-Lease traffic. It lasted just about 9 months after commissioning before joining Davy Jones' fleet; one of the Allies' most heartening early victories . . Good show, Winston! . . Too bad, Adolf!
• Penpal from Chambersburg, PaAbout The Bismarck: Being "Germany's Most Famous Battleship of World War II" , the Bismarck ( launched in 1939 ) displaced over 50, 000 tons and 40% of this displacement was armour.. She was capable of 29 knots; and carried a formidible array of weaponry --- 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.9 inch guns, 16 x 4.1 inch AA guns, 16 x 20mm. AA guns, and 2 x Arado 96 aircraft ; and had a crew of 2,200 men...The Bismarck was torpedoed 3 - times by the submarine, HMS Dorsetshire, and sunk on May 27th 1941 at 10:40 am...Of the 2,200 men, there were only 115 survivors ; with only two officers out of 100 survived.

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