The Siegfried Line” is Billy’s first song about war, years before “Goodnight Saigon” on 1982’s The Nylon Curtain.
The Siegfried Line was a fortification system constructed under orders of Adolf Hitler during the late 1930s along the Western and Northern borders of Germany.
Known as the West Wall in Germany, but dubbed the “Siegfried Line” by the British, it was a symbol of Germany’s defensive line and overcoming it, and the numerous bunkers and natural obstacles was an important part of the Allied Forces campaign in World War II.
Billy is a history buff and has said that if hadn’t become a musician, he would have considered being a history teacher.
The song is told from a soldier’s perspective, just like the later “Goodnight Saigon” and “Christmas in Fallujah.”
Rather than “Playboy,” “soft soap,” and “Bob Hope” from the 1960s, the soldiers in World War II in Europe had “Dutch chocolate” and “French wine.”
The song seems to be from the perspective of soldiers who are waiting for the war to officially end, as the fighting has largely already ended (“all the guns are silent”)
