Line #62 Heartwarming/Sabaton


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2
3	* Sabaton has always listened a lot to their fans and have given them an even amount back. Quite literally, as in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj32UrF84gM this clip]] singer Joakim gives his trademark glasses to a kid in the front row, while praising him because he knows all the lyrics.
4	** Joakim did something similar in a show on their Heroes tour, giving his shades to a kid. When the kid was asked if this was his first metal concert, the kid replied he had been to a dozen already, to which Joakim playfully admitted being jealous.
5	* These lines from ''40:1'':
6	-->''Always remember, a fallen soldier\
7	Always remember, fathers and sons at war''
8	* ''The Ballad of Bull''. Sabaton is a band full of songs about bloody battles, gruesome conflicts, and harsh sacrifices, but then comes this song, which is not about the loss of lives, but about the ''salvation of lives'' by Bull Allen.
9	-->''Sometimes war is killing\
10	Sometimes it's saving lives\
11	Thanks to one single man\
12	A dozen more survived''
13	* Similar to ''The Ballad of Bull'', ''No Bullets Fly''. It's about the Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident. Charles, the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress received heavy damage and several of his crew was wounded. As the B-17 was limping back, attempting to reach the safety of England, Franz, after his Me-109 was restocked and refueled had initially been ordered to bring the B-17 down. When he reached within striking distance, Franz noticed the casualties involved and the extensive damage to the bomber. Remembering something he was told as a recruit, he felt it would be dishonorable to shoot the bomber down, as it seemed akin to a man with his parachute deployed. Franz Stigler risked death in three ways that day: Friendly fire, getting shot down by the bomber, or being executed for disobeying an order. The bomber crew survived that day, Franz moved to Canada less than 10 years later [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and 47 years later after the incident Brown and Stigler met and became good friends until their deaths within several months of each other in 2008 (22 March for Stigler and 25 November for Brown)]]
14	-->''He risked his life two times that day\
15	To save an unknown enemy\
16	Escort to safety out of the kill zone\
17	A short salute then departed\
18	\
19	Fly, fighting fair\
20	It's the code of the air\
21	Brothers, heroes, foes\
22	\
23	Killing machine\
24	Honour in the sky\
25	B-17 flying home\
26	Killing machine\
27	Said goodbye to the cross he deserved''
28	* ''Hearts of Iron''; During the battle of Berlin the General of the 12th Army, Walther Wenck realized that the Red Army was closing in and so was the demise of his soldiers. [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Instead of holding his post and fighting the incoming Soviets as per his ordered, he instead used his Army to create an "escape-corridor" to get himself and as many people as possible out of Berlin]]. For this he'd surely be sentenced to death for treason, however in doing this he saved the life of up to 250,000 Germans by safely escorting them out of the burning city.
29	-->''It's the end, the war has been lost\
30	Keeping them safe until the river's been crossed\
31	Nicht ein Schlacht, ein Rettungsaktion[[note]]It's not a battle, it's a rescue operation[[/note]]\
32	Holding their ground until the final platoon\
33	"Hurry up, we're waiting for you"\
34	Men of the 9th and civilians too!\
35	Dispossessed, surrendering to the West\
36	\
37	Who'll survive and who will die?\
38	Up to Kriegsglück to decide\
39	Those who made it 'cross without a loss\
40	Have reason to reflect\
41	It is not about Berlin, it is not about the Reich\
42	It's about the men who fought for them\
43	What peace can they expect?''
44	** Also the line "''Who can now look back with a sense of pride''", a recurring one toward the end of the song. It possibly evokes a sentiment expressed in ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', a film which the band has referenced before, referring to something as "The one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful, shitty mess."
45	* During the 2011 USA tour, a veteran of the 101st Airbourne Division asked to hear "Screaming Eagles", since it was about his division's history. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf012GrrIzo&feature=feedu They added it to the program mid-concert without hesitation]].
46	* The band frequently tweaks their song list for a concert to include songs specifically about their host country, such as the rarely heard ''Talvisota'' for a concert in Finland.
47	** Playing ''[[UsefulNotes/TheFalklandsWar Back In Control]]'' in Glasgow, Joakim introduces the song "For the Scottish in the SAS... Back In Control!"
48	** For at least one concert in Poland, they started with ''40:1'' instead of their usual ''Ghost Division''.
49	** Also in Poland with ''40:1'', they frequently replace the lyric "that land" with "''this'' land".
50	** Similarly, in ''Uprising'', they replace "their" with "your" when performing the song in Warsaw. ''The blood'' '''''you''''' ''shed, upon'' '''''your''''' ''streets...''
51	** It is completely unheard of for them to NOT play ''Counterstrike'' while in Israel.
52	** Tours of the United States have always included ''To Hell and Back'', a song about American soldier Creator/AudieMurphy from the state of Texas.
53	** Tours in Russia will always see the band playing ''Panzerkampf''. Also, Joakim frequently introduces the song by talking about how Russia "kicked Hitler's Nazi ass all the way back to Germany."
54	** In Brazil they always play ''Smoking Snakes''. That song actually is now well known outside of the metal scene and has been played many times by military bands with more orchestral arranges.
55	*** On a related note, on a concert on Juiz de Fora, one former soldier for the Brazilian force in World War II was called before the song and given a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrpWeJxTfS0 due homage]], with the band thanking him for his courage and everyone in the venue chanting his name. With the lack of support to the military in Brazil, that may have been one of the times he got a recognition for his acts.
56	* The band frequently receives military memorabilia from fans with military background (usually in Israel). According to Joakim, they have a special archive for it back home.
57	* ''The Last Battle'' is about the Battle for Castle Itter, commonly (and not without reason) considered to be the strangest battle of World War II. How so? To start with, the Battle for Castle Itter is the only known battle where [[EnemyMine Americans and Germans]] fought alongside one another during the war. To continue, it took place five days into the week lying between the day {{UsefulNotes/Adolf Hitler}} committed suicide in his bunker and Germany officially surrendered to the Allies. Furthermore, the Allied forces came out to a RealLife example of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits [[LongList composed of]]: recently freed French and Eastern European [=POWs=] and political prisoners[[note]]Quoth Website/TheOtherWiki, "notable prisoners included tennis player Jean Borotra, former prime ministers Édouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud, former commanders-in-chief Maxime Weygand and Maurice Gamelin, Charles de Gaulle's elder sister Marie-Agnès Cailliau, right-wing leader and closet French resistance member François de La Rocque, and trade union leader Léon Jouhaux. Besides the French VIP prisoners, the castle held a number of Eastern European prisoners detached from Dachau, who were used for maintenance and other menial work."[[/note]], 31 combatants variously from the 23rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armored Division of the US XXI Corps, led by [[TheCaptain Cpt. John C. "Jack" Lee, Jr.]], a number of Wehrmacht soldiers led by [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Major Josef "Sepp" Gangl]][[note]]Gangl and his Wehrmacht division had defected slightly earlier on by refusing to retreat, and instead threw in with the local chapter of LaResistance, with whom they were protecting the nearby town from any DisproportionateRetribution that the SS would gleefully bring down for the slightest hint of insubordination or independence.[[/note]], Waffen SS ''Hauptsturmführer'' Kurt-Siegfried Schrader who [[DefectorFromDecadence defected]] after talking to and befriending some of the prisoners, and a member of [[LaResistance the Austrian resistance]]. Together, and with a little help from their Sherman Tank, dubbed "Besotten Jenny", which they placed at the main entrance, they held Castle Itter against a force 150-200 strong from the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division until relief arrived from the American 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Division of XXI Corps. During the battle, [[TakingTheBullet Major Gangl was killed by a sniper's bullet]] [[HeroicSacrifice while trying to get former Prime Minister Reynaud to safety]], and was the sole Allied casualty. The Allied forces, [[CurbStompBattle for their part]], took '''one hundred''' Waffen SS prisoners. For his service defending the castle, Lee received the Distinguished Service Cross. [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes, you read all that right]]. Readily doubles as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
58	--> ''And it's the end of the line of the final journey\
59	Enemies leaving the past\
60	And it's American troops and the German army\
61	Joining together at last''
62	* A popular quiz show in Serbia asked the question "Which country does the group Sabaton hail from?" The female contestant readily answered 'Sweden' and didn't hide that she is a huge fan. The band heard of this, tracked the girl down and gave her tickets for their upcoming concert in Belgrade.[[http://www.alo.rs/slagalica-hit-medu-hevimetalcima-video/91545]]
63	** On that very concert, they stated that their usual drummer had to fly back home because "he is having a little Sabaton baby". The audience reacted accordingly.
64	* Just about any time Sabaton performs in the United States, usually right before they play ''Primo Victoria'', they include a line to the effect of "If it wasn't for your fathers and grandfathers, we'd all be speaking German."
65	* "Inmate 4859" tells the sad story of [[DownerEnding Witold Pilecki]], who ended up being executed as a result of Poland's Warsaw Pact. The song repeatedly asks "Who knows his name". The final chorus, however, states "Soldier in Auschwitz, '''we''' know his name", showing that his heroism will ''not'' be forgotten despite how tragically his story ended.
66	* Despite it's generally melancholy tone, Great War manages to be somewhat uplifting towards the end.
67	-->''And feet by feet\
68	[[CallBack We pay the price of a mile here]]\
69	[[AWorldHalfFull Though men are falling, we see heroes rise]]\
70	We face the heat\
71	As we are fighting until the dawn\
72	[[DareToBeBadass So follow me and we will write our own history!]]''
73	* ''Christmas Truce'' is about the event of the same name in the winter of 1914, showing both sides rising out of their trenches and coming together for one glimpse of happiness amidst the Great War.
74	-->''And today we're all brothers\
75	Tonight we're all friends\
76	A moment of peace in a war that never ends\
77	Today we're all brothers\
78	We drink and unite\
79	Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white\
80	Hear carols from the trenches\
81	We sing O Holy Night\
82	Our guns laid to rest on the snowflakes''.

Context Heartwarming / Sabaton