Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree is a 1973 pop single by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, from the album Tuneweaving. It was released February 19, 1973 and recorded January 1973, with a length of 3:20. The song, written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and produced by Hank Medress and Dave Appell, tells the story of a man just released from prison who asks his lover to tie a yellow ribbon around the ole oak tree if she wants him back. If the ribbon is not seen, he will board the next bus and understand he is unwelcome, but the entire bus cheers when hundreds of ribbons appear, signaling welcome. It became a worldwide hit, reaching number one on the US and UK charts for four weeks in April 1973, topping charts in Australia and New Zealand, and becoming the top selling single of 1973 in both the US and the UK. The yellow ribbon symbol has older roots in cavalry tradition and was popularized in the 1970s as a sign of welcome home, including during the Iran hostage crisis. Billboard ranked the song 37th among the biggest songs of all time in 2008, and it remained a top 50 song by its 60th anniversary in 2018.
