[Verse 1]

Round her neck she wore a yellow ribbon,
She wore it in the springtime and in the month of May.
And if you asked her why the heck she wore it,
She says "It's for my lover who is far, far away".

Refrain

Far away!
Far away!
She wore it for her lover far away.
Round her neck she wore a yellow ribbon.
She wore it for her lover who is far, far away.

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Although the exact origin of the yellow ribbon still remains a mystery, the tradition of wearing yellow ribbons may date back to the Civil War when the US Cavalry was symbolized by yellow piping on their uniforms. Women who were married to or dating soldiers wore yellow ribbons as they waited for their sweethearts to return from battle. Historians believe this practice was commemorated in the 1917 song "Around Her Neck She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Released in 1949, the second of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", produced between Ford/Wayne collaborations Fort Apache (1947) and Rio Grande (1949). She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the only one of the three to be produced in Technicolor. In an Oscar-calibre performance, 42-year old John Wayne plays sixtyish Cavalry Captain Nathan Brittles. In his last days before his compulsory retirement, Brittles must face the possibility of a full-scale attack from the Arapahos, fomented by the recent defeat of Custer and by double-dealing Indian agents.

Captain Brittles is able to forestall the Indian attack, just in time for his official retirement. The story develops into a saga of the frontier Cavalry, its hardbitten men, loyal wives and unusual intrigues.

Yellow ribbons really caught on as a symbol of patriotism in 1979 during the Iranian hostage crisis, when Penne Laingen, wife of hostage Bruce Laingen, tied a large yellow ribbon around a tree in front of their home near Washington, DC. The idea spread around the country to symbolize hope for the hostages safe return home. When the 52 hostages returned after 444 days in captivity, the Laingen family donated the huge ribbon to the Library of Congress.

In 1990, when the line was drawn in the sand in Kuwait, thousands of American soldiers, many pulled out of civilian life, were sent far away to the Middle East for Operation Desert Storm. Those left behind watched as the last great land-and-air conflict of the 20th century played out on television screens across the nation. In support of the troops safe return home, yellow ribbons began to appear on clothing lapels and on the fronts of homes, businesses, schools and churches.