Much has changed since Tony Orlando & Dawn put out this A-side on record number one in the jukebox from hell around 1973. The basis of the song is that a prisoner has been released from prison after serving 3 years; for what? We don’t know, but later the lyrics say “put the blame on me”. He writes “his love” a letter letting her know he is getting out and wants to know “what is and isn’t mine”. A yellow ribbon tied around the “old oak tree” is the signal if she wants him back. Taking a bus to his hometown the other riders on the bus cheer when hundreds of ribbons are tied to the old oak tree. Told today this story might read like this: Ex-con and registered sex offender rides free public transportation back to the town where he roamed the streets committing his heinous crimes just 3 years ago. Citizens are up in arms and start neighborhood watch program and yellow ribbon campaign to raise awareness of sex offenders living amongst them. Passengers on the bus pushed the fiend from bus when it arrived at his stop happy to see that he would not be continuing on to their neighborhood.