If the Sergeant Steals Your Rum

DESCRIPTION: "If the sergeant steals your rum, never mind (x2), Though he's just a blood sot, Just let him take the lot, If the sergeant steals your rum...." "If old Jerry shells the trench, never mind.... Though the blessed sandbags fly, You have only once to die"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Nettleingham-TommysTunes)
KEYWORDS: soldier drink death derivative
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver, pp. 74-75, "If the Sergeant Steals Your Rum" (1 text, plus an excerpt of the original song "Though Your Heart May Ache a While, Never Mind")
Nettleingham-TommysTunes, #10, "Never Mind" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: John Mullen, _The Show Must Go On! Popular Song in Britain during the First World War_, French edition 2012; English edition, Ashgate, 2015, p. 205, "(If the sergeant steals your rum, never mind)" (1 text)
Roud #10522
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Though Your Heart May Ache a White, Never Mind" (tune)
cf. "Never Mind (If the Antrim Strikes a Mine)" (tune)
NOTES [71 words]: The original song of which this is a parody, "Though Your Heart May Ache a While, Never Mind" (sometimes called "If Your Face Should Lose Its Smile, Never Mind") was written in 1913 by Harry Dent and Tom Goldburn. It is similar to the children's song "If You're Happy And You Know It."
The number of parody verses is quite high; there is a mudcat.org thread that collected quite a few, along with texts of the original song. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: AWTBW074

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography