The Wild Blue Yonder

The wild blue yonder is a phrase that indicates a journey up into the sky and to a land far far away. The wording comes from a song about the US Air Force. The first stanza is as follows:

Off we go into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high into the sun;

Here they come zooming to meet our thunder,

At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!)

Down we dive, spouting our flame from under,

Off with one heckuva roar!

We live in fame or go down in flame.

Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force!

My grandmother would at times day she was going to send me and my brothers into the wild blue yonder. In other words she was going to whip us do bad when we misbehaved that it would send us into outer space. Grandma also said that she was going to knock us into next week. This meant that after a beating we would not wake up until the following week. Back in the day there were many harsh sayings that were meant to keep kids in line. Each time, however, my grandmother mentioned the wild blue yonder I was filled with awe. The second stanza of the song is as follows;

Minds of men fashioned a crate of thunder

Sent it high into the blue

Hands of men blasted the world asunder,

How they lived God only knew!

Souls of men dreaming of skies to conquer

Gave us wings ever to soar,

With scouts before and bombers galore, Hey!

Nothing'll stop the US Air Force!

The word yonder comes from the old Dutch language and means "over there." In the South you may often hear someone say "over yonder" when referring to a specific location. I recall as a child hearing people say” Way down yonder.” I’m spite of the words to the song being about the Air Force, I still think of the wild blue yonder as somewhere out there up in the sky. I imagine it to be a Bermuda Triangle of sorts where you get lost in the heavens. I imagine airplanes disappearing, vanishing without a trace, never to return.

There actually have been several aircraft that vanished without a trace over the area known as The Bermuda Triangle. An entire fleet of Tudor IV airplanes were retired after two of the planes vanished within a year of each other. Both aircraft went missing in 1948 over the Bermuda triangle. Their disappearance has added more fuel to the fire of the mysteries of this area which to this date remain unsolved. There was also flight 19 which took place during WW II. All five planes involved disappeared without a trace along with 14 men without a crew and no debris was ever found.

The final stanza of the song is as follows:

Here's a toast to the host of those

Who love the vastness of the sky,

To a friend we send a message

Of his brother men who fly.

We drink to those who gave their all of old,

Then down we roar

to score the rainbow's pot of gold.

A toast to the host of men we boast, the US Air Force.

There may be perfectly good explanations for why these planes disappeared into the wild blue yonder without a trace but not knowing is more mysterious. It gives credibility to all the myths and legends about an unseen force that can devour. It builds faith that there is so much more to this world than what we can see with the naked eye. The unknown is more fascinating than what can be explained. This is why myself and others have taken the wild blue yonder further than the lyrics of the song.