Oh they say there's a troopship just leaving Bombay (1)
Bound for old Blighty's shore, (2)
Heavily laden with time-expired men
Bound for the land they adore;
There's many a twat (3) just finishing his time,
There's many a cunt signing on;
You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean,
So cheer up my lads, fuck 'em all!
Fuck 'em all!
Fuck 'em all!
The long and the short and the tall;
Fuck all the Sergeants and W.O.l.'s, (4)
Fuck all the corporals and their bastard sons; (5)
For we're saying goodbye to them all,
As up the C.O.'s arse they crawl; (6)
You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean,
So cheer up my lads, fuck 'em all!
Bound for old Blighty's shore, (2)
Heavily laden with time-expired men
Bound for the land they adore;
There's many a twat (3) just finishing his time,
There's many a cunt signing on;
You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean,
So cheer up my lads, fuck 'em all!
Fuck 'em all!
Fuck 'em all!
The long and the short and the tall;
Fuck all the Sergeants and W.O.l.'s, (4)
Fuck all the corporals and their bastard sons; (5)
For we're saying goodbye to them all,
As up the C.O.'s arse they crawl; (6)
You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean,
So cheer up my lads, fuck 'em all!
Notes:
(1) Alternatively, Fiji, Port Said, Calais or any other two-syllable place name where soldiers might embark for return to their homeland.
(2) Alternatively, New Zealand's shore.
(3) Slang, female genitals or "cunt"' hence a foolish, silly or stupid fellow.
(4) Warrant Officer First Class, the senior rank attainable by non-commissioned officers in the Royal Air Force.
(5) Alternatively, "Fuck all their daughters and fuck all their sons".
(6) "As they ingratiate themselves with the Commanding Officer of the unit".
(1) Alternatively, Fiji, Port Said, Calais or any other two-syllable place name where soldiers might embark for return to their homeland.
(2) Alternatively, New Zealand's shore.
(3) Slang, female genitals or "cunt"' hence a foolish, silly or stupid fellow.
(4) Warrant Officer First Class, the senior rank attainable by non-commissioned officers in the Royal Air Force.
(5) Alternatively, "Fuck all their daughters and fuck all their sons".
(6) "As they ingratiate themselves with the Commanding Officer of the unit".
Contributed by Alessandro - 2009/12/8 - 22:26
Language: English
Versione circolante tra le truppe alleate durante le operazioni nel Pacifico nella seconda guerra mondiale.
They called for the army to come to Tulagi, (1)
But Douglas MacArthur (2) said no;
They said there's a reason,
It isn't the season,
Besides there's no USO. (3)
Fuck 'em all! Fuck 'em all!
The long, the short, the tall;
Fuck all the Pelicans and Dogfaces too, (4)
Fuck all the generals and above all fuck you!
So we're saying goodbye to them all,
As back to our foxholes we crawl;
There'll be no promotion on MacArthur's blue ocean,
So cheer up Gyrenes, fuck 'em all.
But Douglas MacArthur (2) said no;
They said there's a reason,
It isn't the season,
Besides there's no USO. (3)
Fuck 'em all! Fuck 'em all!
The long, the short, the tall;
Fuck all the Pelicans and Dogfaces too, (4)
Fuck all the generals and above all fuck you!
So we're saying goodbye to them all,
As back to our foxholes we crawl;
There'll be no promotion on MacArthur's blue ocean,
So cheer up Gyrenes, fuck 'em all.
Note:
(1) An island in the Solomons which was the scene of fierce fighting against a Japanese occupying force.
(2) General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of the South-west Pacific area in World War 2.
(3) The United Services Organisation, the chief source of organised stage and concert entertainments for U.S. troops in the field.
(4) "Dogface" is a slang term for U.S. infantry soldier; Pelican is now obscure, but it probably refers to some other arm of the services.
(1) An island in the Solomons which was the scene of fierce fighting against a Japanese occupying force.
(2) General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of the South-west Pacific area in World War 2.
(3) The United Services Organisation, the chief source of organised stage and concert entertainments for U.S. troops in the field.
(4) "Dogface" is a slang term for U.S. infantry soldier; Pelican is now obscure, but it probably refers to some other arm of the services.
Contributed by Alessandro - 2009/12/8 - 22:28
Language: English
Due strofe aggiuntive che circolavano tra marines statunitensi, sempre durante la guerra nel Pacifico.
They sent for the Navy to come to Tulagi,
The gallant Navy agreed;
With one thousand sections
In different directions,
My God! What a fucked-up stampede!
Fuck 'em all, etc.
They sent for the nurses to come overseas,
The reason was perfectly clear,
To make a good marriage and push a carriage
While fucking all hands, my dear!
Fuck 'em all, etc.
The gallant Navy agreed;
With one thousand sections
In different directions,
My God! What a fucked-up stampede!
Fuck 'em all, etc.
They sent for the nurses to come overseas,
The reason was perfectly clear,
To make a good marriage and push a carriage
While fucking all hands, my dear!
Fuck 'em all, etc.
Contributed by Alessandro - 2009/12/8 - 22:29
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Testo trovato sull'articolo di Les Cleveland dello Smithsonian Institution "Soldiers' Songs: The Folklore of the Powerless" pubblicato sulla rivista "New York Folklore" n.11 nel 1985.
Una canzone che rimanda alla patriottica "Bless 'em All" ma che le truppe (inglesi, neozelandesi e americane) usavano cantare, in differenti versioni, con parole che di patriottico avevano ben poco…
“This was popular among Royal Air Force personnel in the 1920's on the North West Frontier of India and may have originated there. It was adapted and popularized commercially by singers like Gracie Fields under the bowdlerized title of "Bless 'em All" so that in its officially sponsored form it functioned as a patriotic item of light entertainment. At the same time, versions of its folk original continued to be sung as an expression of protest by the soldiery.”
Quella che segue è la versione in voga tra i soldati neozelandesi durante la seconda guerra mondiale...