We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant​-​Major/ Bless 'Em All

from This Side Of The Ocean by The Friends of Fiddler’s Green

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Some of the very best chorus songs seem to come out of the hardships and dangers of war. And once a song has become popular with the forces, oral tradition takes over and the words develop infinite variations overnight, depending on whether you're Army, Navy, Airforce, or whatever. Songs like these are wonderful vehicles for satire of officers, bad cooking, rotten conditions at sea, in the air, on the march - you name it! Of the pair of songs lan sings here, Bless'Em All originated in the First, and Kiss Me Goodnight in the Second World War, but they're both well-remembered today.

Glossary: W.O.-ones - Warrant Officers, first class

lyrics

Private Jones came home one night,
Full of beer and very tight.
He'd been out all day upon the spree.
He bumped into Sergeant Speck,
Flung his arms around his neck,
And in his ear he whispered tenderly;
'"Kiss me goodnight, Sgt. Major,
Tuck me in my little wooden bed.
We all love you, Sgt. Major,
When we hear you bawling, 'show a leg!'
Don't forget to wake me in the morning,
And bring me up a nice hot cup of tea;
Kiss me goodnight, Sgt. Major,
Sgt. Major, be a mother to me.

Chorus:

Bless'em all, bless'em all, the long and the short and the tall;
Bless all the sergeants and W.O.-ones,
Bless all the corporals and their bleeding sons;
For we're saying goodbye to them all,
As back to the barracks they crawl;
You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean,
So cheer up me lads, bless'em all!

There's many a troopship just leaving Bombay,
Bound for old Bliahty's shore.
Heavilv laden with time-expired men,
Bound for the land they adore.
Oh there's many a squaddy just finished his time,
And man a twerp signing on;
You'll get no promotion on this side of the ocean,
So cheer up me lads, bless'em all.

Now they say that the sergeant's a very nice bloke;
Oh what a tale to tell!
Ask him for leave on a Saturday night,
Oh hell pay your fare home as well.
Oh there's many a squaddy has blighted his life
Through writing rude words on the wall;
You'll get no promotion on this side of the ocean,
So cheer up me lads, bless'em all.

Officers don't worry me,
Officers don't worry me;
Bell-bottom trousers with stripes down the side,
Whacking great pockets with bugger-all inside;
But we're saying goodbye to them all,
As back to the barracks they crawl,
You'll get no promotion on this side of the ocean,
So cheer up me lads, bless'em all.

credits

from This Side Of The Ocean, released December 28, 2021
lan - Lead vocals • Tam - Mandolin • Grit - Tenor banjo • Alistair, Dave, Jim, Laurence - Chorus • Ken - Piano, harmonica

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Laurence Stevenson image

Laurence Stevenson Brighton, Ontario

Having been born in Scotland and moved to Canada in my high school years, my life has followed parallel (but musically related) paths.
A career in radio, firstly as a radio news tech then a sound effects guy to creator of the CBC Radio Experimental Audio Room and finally as an international award winning radio producer for the popular show, Outfront, has been tracked alongside a life as a fiddler. ... more

contact / help

Contact Laurence Stevenson

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Laurence Stevenson, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Seafood Sam joins the show to discuss his newest album, " Standing On Giant Shoulders".
listen now