This is a novelty song about the imaginary World War I antics of Charlie Brown’s pet beagle in the comic strip Peanuts. It spawned three sequels: “The Return of the Red Baron,” “Snoopy’s Christmas,” and “Snoopy for President.” Of the three, “The Return of the Red Baron” is the only one that hit the Hot 100 (#15), but “Snoopy’s Christmas” became a seasonal favorite.

There really was a Red Baron. His name was Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (Baron Von Richthofen), and just like the lyrics state, he had 80 confirmed kills as a fighter pilot in World War I. In the song, he meets his demise when Snoopy shoots him down in a dogfight, but in real life, he died when his plane crashed in France.

(Source songfacts.com)

Lyrics

After the turn of the century
In the clear blue skies over Germany
Came a roar and a thunder man has never heard
Like the screaming sound of a big war bird.
Up in the sky, a man in a plane
Baron Von Richthofen was his name
Eight-y men tried and eight-y men died
Now they’re buried together on the country side.

Chorus:
Ten, Twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The bloody Red Baron was rollin’ up the score
Eight-y men died trying to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany.

In the nick of time, a hero arose
A funny looking dog with a big black nose
He flew into the sky to seek revenge
But the Baron shot him down
“Curses, foiled again!”

(Chorus)

Now Snoopy had swore that he’d get that man
So he asked the Great Pumpkin for a new battle plan
He challenged the German to a real dog fight
While the Baron was laughing he got him in his sights.
That bloody Red Baron was in a fix
He tried everything but he’d run out of tricks
Snoopy fired once and he fired twice
And that Bloody Red Baron went spin-nin out of sight.

(Chorus x 2)

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