Up to your waist in water,
Up to your eyes in slush,
Using the kind of language
That makes the sergeants blush;
Who wouldn't join the army,
That's what we all enquire,
Don't we pity the poor civilians
Sitting beside the fire ?
Chorus:
Oh! Oh! Oh! It's a lovely war,
Who wouldn't be a soldier, eh ?
Oh, it's a shame to take the pay.
As soon as reveille has gone
We feel just as heavy as lead,
But we never get up till the sergeant
Brings our breakfast up to bed.
What do you want with eggs and ham
When you've got plum and apple jam ?
Form fours! Right turn!
How shall we spend the money we earn ?
When does a soldier grumble ?
When does a soldier make a fuss ?
No one is more contented
In all the world than us.
Oh, it's a cushy life, boys,
Really, we love it so;
Once a fellow was sent on leave
And simply refused to go.
Come to the cook-house door, boys,
Sniff at the lovely stew,
Who is it says the colonel
Gets better grub than you ?
Any complaints this morning?
Do we complain ? Not we.
What's the matter with lumps of onion
Floating around the tea ?
Up to your eyes in slush,
Using the kind of language
That makes the sergeants blush;
Who wouldn't join the army,
That's what we all enquire,
Don't we pity the poor civilians
Sitting beside the fire ?
Chorus:
Oh! Oh! Oh! It's a lovely war,
Who wouldn't be a soldier, eh ?
Oh, it's a shame to take the pay.
As soon as reveille has gone
We feel just as heavy as lead,
But we never get up till the sergeant
Brings our breakfast up to bed.
What do you want with eggs and ham
When you've got plum and apple jam ?
Form fours! Right turn!
How shall we spend the money we earn ?
When does a soldier grumble ?
When does a soldier make a fuss ?
No one is more contented
In all the world than us.
Oh, it's a cushy life, boys,
Really, we love it so;
Once a fellow was sent on leave
And simply refused to go.
Come to the cook-house door, boys,
Sniff at the lovely stew,
Who is it says the colonel
Gets better grub than you ?
Any complaints this morning?
Do we complain ? Not we.
What's the matter with lumps of onion
Floating around the tea ?
Contributed by Riccardo Venturi - 2005/11/29 - 21:12
Charles Chilton, a longtime radio writer and producer for the BBC who developed the concept for a satirical antiwar musical of the 1960s, “Oh, What a Lovely War!,” died Jan. 2 in England. He was 95. British newspapers reported his death, but the cause and circumstances were not immediately available.
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Intorno a questa ed altre canzoni risalenti alla Grande Guerra è costruita l'opera musicale "Oh, What a Lovely War!" realizzata nel 1963 da Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop, sulla base di "The Donkeys" di Alan Clark e di "The Good Soldier Švejk" di Jaroslav Hašek.
(Alessandro)