The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #1252 Message #939681
Posted By: Joe Offer
24-Apr-03 - 10:56 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Hangin' on the Old Barbed Wire
Subject: ADD Version: I'll Tell You Where They Were^^
Here's yet another version, different from what I've been able to find here at Mudcat. I sure wish the Digital Tradition didn't spell the NCO "sargeant."
-Joe Offer-
I'LL TELL YOU WHERE THEY WERE
If you want to know where the generals were,
I'll tell you where they were,
Yes—I'll tell you where they were,
Oh—I'll tell you where they were.
If you want to know where the generals were,
I'll tell you where they were— Back in gay Paree!
Spoken: How do you know?
I saw them! I saw them!
Back in gay Paree I saw them,
Back in gay Paree.
If you want to know where the colonels were,
I'll tell you where they were,
Yes—I'll tell you where they were,
Oh—I'll tell you where they were.
If you want to know where the colonels were,
I'll tell you where they were— Way behind the lines!
Spoken: How do you know?
I saw them! I saw them!
Way behind the lines I saw them,
Way behind the lines.
If you want to know where the majors were,
Etc., etc.
Playing with the mademoiselles,
Etc., etc.
If you want to know where the captains were,
Etc., etc.
Down in the deep dugout.
Etc., etc.
If you want to know where the sergeants were,
Etc., etc.
Drinking up the privates' rum,
Etc., etc.
If you want to know where the privates were,
Etc., etc.
Up to their necks in mud!
Etc., etc.^^
Source: "Sound Off": Soldier Songs (Edward Arthur Dolph, 1929, 1942)