Hidden Musical Depths

Back in the mid-Sixties, I heard a song which, like many other pop songs in that time and place, was a modern ballad. It told the story of Baron von Richthofen and how eighty men died trying to end his killing spree as a fighter pilot during the Great War. Then, with no change in music or singing style, it jumped from historical ballad to whimsical fantasy by describing his opponent as a funny looking dog with a big black nose.

Most people familiar with "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" think of it purely as a clever little novelty song, to go along with the _Peanuts_ comic strip. The thing is, it really does sound like many popular ballads of the late Fifties and most of the Sixties, while also successfully communicating the whimsy of the comic strip battles.