"Why Can't We Be Friends" John Denver episode question

[snichols1973]

I just recently found this clip of the Muppets' version of "Why Can't We Be Friends" with alternate lyrics from episode 401 featuring John Denver, and I was wondering if anyone has the lyrics, because some of the clip audio is so hard to understand (especially the 1st verse with the Napoleonic soldiers, and the 3rd verse featuring Zeke (of Lubbock Lou's Jughuggers) and the German soldier in the WWI Kaiser-era uniform....

The Muppet Show - Why Can't We Be Friends - YouTube

 

[minor muppetz]

I've also noticed a lot of lyrics being hard to understand, whether it's the Muppet version or the original. I didn't even realize the Muppet version has alternate lyrics.

Zeke's line is "Why don't we drop our guns and all shake hands?"

 

[mupcollector1]

This is one of my all time favorite numbers And Crazy Harry is just having a ball in it. I think the only other war related number Crazy Harry was in was the target practice one where he directs the soldiers with the cannon and constantly missing, just about missed Waldorf and Statler. "Yeah, but what do you think of having a foxhole in the theater box."
If that sketch came from an episode after the John Denver episode, perhaps it was a bit of revenge from Crazy Harry due to Waldorf and Statler's Machine Gun Machine. Who knows?
"We didn't miss them, we were shooting blanks! Well some of them were blanks."
The Muppets even changed a lyric in The Devil Went Down To Georgia (and I won't get into detail on that), and sometimes lyrics are shortened or verses are used longer depending on the number. I remember Jim quoting to add an extra "In the Navy" in the Muppets & Men documentry so it's part of the process of the show because it's calculating the time length, visual, all that sort of thing.
I'm glad to know now this number is from the John Denver episode. For a long time, I thought it was the Harry Belafonte episode.

 

[mupcollector1]

The Muppet Show - Why Can't We Be Friends - YouTube

2:36, check out the blooper when Beard's hand falls off his surrender flag and it's still waving. That was his name "Beard" right? Didn't he evolve a little bit when he returned on The Jim Henson Hour or was that just another character all together who's loosely based on his design?

 

[snichols1973]

2:36, check out the blooper when Beard's hand falls off his surrender flag and it's still waving. That was his name "Beard" right? Didn't he evolve a little bit when he returned on The Jim Henson Hour or was that just another character all together who's loosely based on his design?

Is the character you're talking about the one in the lower left-hand corner (stage right) next to Crazy Harry?

You might have been thinking of

Slim Wilson - Muppet Wiki

It took some time (and a few Youtube user comments), and verse 1 with the Napoleonic French troops goes:

"We just can't wait until the war begins, They give a medal to you if you win"

Verse 2 (with the WWI doughboys):
"Don't ever ask the general what it's for, 'Cause he'd be out of work without a war"

Verse 3:
Zeke: "Why don't we drop our guns and all shake hands?"
German/Prussian WWI-era officer: "Forget the war and make some other friends?"

Verse 4:
"We're getting tired and our feet are sore, Let's head for home and say to heck with war!"

: Well, they got up, we must have missed them.
: We didn't miss 'em, we were shooting blanks!
: We were?
: Of course!
(machine gun goes off)
: Well, some of them were blanks.