SONGS OF SOLDIERS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 January 1940, Page 7

SONGS OF SOLDIERS

FAVOURITES OF OTHER DAYS. Over kopji and veld British soldiers marched out to seek the elusive Boer, and they sang as they went. Soldiers always sing. They were soldiers of the Queen, so an enterprising song writer capitalised the idea. “Soldiers of the Queen,” still popular among the older generations, set weary feet lifting to time in the hunt for Johnny Boer with his little Maxim gun. Perhaps "The Boers Have Got My Daddy” had its genesis in the fatal meeting, or was it a case of "The Absent-Minded Beggar?" “Soldiers in the Park” marched hand-in-hand with "Dolly Gray," "Goodbye, My Starlight,” "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree,” and “We Parted on the Shore.” with "Blue Bell” tailing along, too. in the cycle of war-time songs typical of the period. Scores ol Wairarapa men were sent away to the echo of those old songs, along Queen or Perry Streets. There was the Navy with “Sons of the Sea” and "It Is the Navy” as rousing contributions. So memories of the Boer War faded, but not its songs. They lived on. as war songs do. until with 1914 came a new bevy, a new lilt to keep the feet from flagging, and the voices of the marching troops were raised lustily in the glories of "Tipperary,” "Keep the Home Fires Burning,” "Pack Up Your Troubles.” "Your King and Country Need You,” "There's a Long, Long Trail." Old soldiers never die, nor do their songs. There's "something” about a soldier, and there’s an elusive "something” about his songs. "Over There” and then "Rose of No Man's Land,” or perhaps “When the Boys Come Home": each had its own distinction. The British “Tommy” was never at a loss for a song.

“It’s a Lovely War," "Mademoiselle From Armentieres," "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty.” “Sister Susie’s Sewing Shirts for Soldiers.” "If You Were the Only Girl in the World." “Who's Your Lady Friend?" “Another Little Drink," “Fall In and Follow Me"—they followed in quick succession, straight from the boards,” as each new “hit" claimed a following.

Twenty-five years cannot eclipse the memory of these songs—not that famous “Tipperary"—in the hearts of all British soldiers as they landed in France and bathed in the smiles of mam'selles. Today soldiers of Britain and France again stand side-by-side. There is a new generation, but over the now dusty’, now muddy French fields and roads where their fathers tramped with “Tipperary" strains lightening the burden, young men are swinging with the same song in their hearts and more to folow when the old repertoire—with its parodies —is exhausted. Soldiers do not change much with the years. There will still be the martial lilt to the songs, still the ribaldry, stil the parodies. "Boomps-a-daisy" is the first —infectious and noisy. There is another, too, the “Beer Barrel Polka." Simple words and a catchy tune —easy to parody—that’s what a soldier wants. The tune matters the most —the words to a lesser extent. Words can be altered. and the average "Tommy" or "Digger" is as skilful as any when parodies are deemed an improvement.

Again a khaki tide flows over France. "Tipperary" and "Boomps-a-daisy" are sung on the march. A new generation keeps a tryst with "Mademoiselle From Armentieres," and so will arise a new cavalcade of war-time melodies.