Old King Cole (IV -- Marching Cadence)

DESCRIPTION: Cumulative. Old King Cole was a merry old soul... He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl and he called for his Privates three. Beer! Beer! Beer! Said the Privates. What merry men are we! But none so fair that we can compare to the (somebody)."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (Nettleingham-TommysTunes)
LONG DESCRIPTION: To the tune of "Old King Cole": Old King Cole was a merry old soul,...
He called for his pipe and he called for his bowl and he called for his Privates three. 'Beer! Beer! Beer!' Said the Privates. 'What merry men are we!
but none so fair that we can compare to the (Airborne Infantry)/(Field Artillery)/(Men of the OTC)'"/etc. Cumulative, with additional lines, "'I need a three day pass,' said the Corporals," "'Left right left,' said the Sergeant," and on up the ranks, perhaps as high as the generals, e.g. "'We do all the work," said the Captains," "'Where's my star?' said the colonels," "'War, war, war,' said the generals"
KEYWORDS: derivative soldier drink humorous
FOUND IN: Ireland Britain
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p 133, "'Form fours to the right,' said the Sergeant" (1 text)
Nettleingham-TommysTunes, #15, "Old King Cole (A. S. C. Version" (1 text)
Roud #1164
NOTES [41 words]: Considering the large number of variants of this I've encountered over the years, I'm surprised it isn't in more folk song collections. No two versions are alike, although almost all involve somebody (usually the privates) calling for beer. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: KSUC183A

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