Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrell)

DESCRIPTION: "Roll out the barrel, We'll have a barrel of fun." The singer(s) have to "leave on the run," but "now it's time to roll out the barrel, for the gang's all here." The lyrics describe a dance which brings happy memories
AUTHOR: Original: Jaromír Vejvoda (source: Fuld; Wikipedia mentions also Eduard Ingris). Various people created words; Fuld says the origina lyrics are by Vašek Zeman
EARLIEST DATE: 1927 (music, according to Wikipedia; Fuld says 1934); the popular English version dates from 1939
KEYWORDS: drink dancing
FOUND IN: Britain
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Fuld-BookOfWorldFamousMusic, p. 136, "Beer Barrel Polka"
Roud #25648
RECORDINGS:
Fran Hendrickson, "Beer Barrel Polka" (Piotr-Archive #286, recorded 10/07/2022); Fran Hendrickson, Derek Piotr, "Beer Barrel Polka" (Piotr-Archive #419, recorded 01/05/2023)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Škoda Lásky (original title)
NOTES [295 words]: Gardner, p. 440, estimates that this was the most popular song in America in 1939, peaking at #2 in June 1939, the biggest recording being by the Will Glahe Orchestra, with the Andrews Sisters also having a hit version.
Other than the Piort archive,I know of no "official" collections of this song in tradition. Nonetheless, it is so often reported to have been sung that I have to think it has become "folk," and so is indexed here (albeit with very little real information). The original composers were Czech.
It seems to have been the unofficial "Song of sinking Royal Navy ships in World War II." When HMS Hood was sunk in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the three survivors sang the song until they were rescued. (Norman, p. 99. For this battle, see "The Sinking of HMS Hood.") When HMS Achates was sinking during the Battle of the Barents Sea and her crew awaiting rescue, several men were singing this song (Pearson, p. 94; Pope, p. 250. For this battle, see "The Kola Run"). And when HMS Janus went down during the Anzio landing in Italy -- again, the survivors supposedly sang this song (Atkinson, p. 368).
Survivors of the Jervis Bay were also said to have sung it after they were sunk by the Admiral Scheer (Duskin/Segman, p. 169). It's also reported that the crew and passengers of the merchant vessel Rangitiki, which was also part of that convoy, sang the song when in danger, although the Rangitiki got away in the end (for background on this convoy and its destruction, see the notes to "The Jervis Bay").
Fuld says that the National Broadcasting Corporation authorities would not permit the name of an alcoholic beverage in a song title, their performances were called the "Barrel Polka," but obviously everyone knew the real name. - RBW
Bibliography

Atkinson: Rick Atkinson, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (being Volume Two of The Liberation Trilogy), Henry Holt and Company, 2007
Duskin/Segman: Gerald L. Duskin and Ralph Segman, If the Gods are Good: The Sacrifice of HMS Jervis Bay, Crécy Publishing Limited, 2005
Edwards: Bernard Edwards, Convoy Will Scatter: The Full Story of Jervis Bay and Convoy HX84, Pen & Sword Maritime, 2013
Gardner: Edward Foote Gardner, Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century: Volume I -- Chart Detail & Encyclopedia 1900-1949, Paragon House, 2000
Norman: Andrew Norman, HMS Hood: Pride of the Royal Navy, Stackpole, 2001
Pearson: Michael Pearson, Red Sky in the Morning: The Battle of the Barents Sea 1942, Airlife Publishing, 2002
Pope: Dudley Pope, 73 North: The Battle of the Barents Sea, 1957 (I use the 1988 Naval Institute Press edition; note that the many editions of this book have very different pagination)

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