Talk:Bless 'Em All

Suggest removing the Ward Brown quote

In the introductory section of this article is a quote from Ward Brown suggesting American authorship of the song which is subsequently dismissed in the next sentence. I think this could be either deleted or moved to another section, because (a) there's no explanation of who Ward Brown is or why his opinion matters; (b) his suggestion is, in the next sentence, dismissed. (c) the suggestion doesn't really make sense. The Atlantic Ocean is not the only sea in the world and British soldiers habitually crossed oceans to fight overseas. So, while it is an interesting insight into how Americans think, it is not worth including in a discussion of the song itself.

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Since a month has gone by and no-one has objected I have now deleted the text referred to above. --Bacon Man (talk) 16:56, 15 May 2021 (UTC)

It's sourced, and I have restored it as such. Beyond My Ken (talk) 19:49, 15 May 2021 (UTC)

Okaaaay, but the fact that it is "sourced" doesn't mean necessarily that it is helpful inserting it into the article, does it? By adding that sentence, the article effectively says "here's a guy who thinks that it might have an American origin. But he's almost certainly wrong." What's the point of that? And that little discussion takes up a third of the "history" section of the article! I suggest (again) that you remove it. Saying "it's sourced" is not a good reason for adding content.

--Bacon Man (talk) 10:36, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

Revisiting this page and I see there has been no response so will proceed with deleting the reference to Ward Brown. Reason:

1. No explanation of who Ward Brown is or why his opinion matters;

2. Ward Brown's suggestion is, in the next sentence, dismissed.

3. The suggestion doesn't really make sense. The Atlantic Ocean is not the only sea in the world and British soldiers habitually crossed oceans to fight overseas.

These points were raised more than a year ago and the only objection to deletion was that the quote had been "sourced". That seems to me to an inadequate reason for retaining the reference. Bacon Man (talk) 13:27, 5 September 2022 (UTC)

Other lyrics

I removed this text from the main article:

More words: My father was with the 13th AF in the South Pacific on Guadalcanal, and came back :with this verse to the song:

Oh, there's a troopship just leaving Bombay

Bound for Old Blighty's shores

Heavily laden with time-expired men

Bound for the land they adore.

Then, the chorus, Bless em all, follows.

There are lots of versions of this. I've seen two by Oscar Brand alone. Drutt (talk) 02:17, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

There's also a version that uses several expletives in the lyrics, which you can actually hear being sung in the film Atonement when they're waiting to be evacuated at Dunkirk. TheRetroGuy (talk) 13:56, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

The words above are correct for the George Formby version - as this youtube recording shows, I presume youtube would be a good source in this case - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYGyAez5_MI

They say there's a troopship just leaving Bombay, bound for old Blighty shore

Heavily laden with time expired men, bound for the land they adore.

There's many an airman just finishing his time, there's many a twerp signing on.

You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean, so cheer up my lads, Bless 'em All.

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 corprals and their blinkin sons,

'Cos were saying goodbye to them all, as back to their billets they crawl

You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean, so cheer up my lads, Bless 'em All

They say if you work hard you'll get better pay

We've heard all that before

Clean up your buttons and polish your boots

Scrub out the barrack room floor

There's many a rookie has taken it in, hook line and sinker an 'all

You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean

So cheer up my lads bless 'em all.

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 corprals and their blinkin sons,

'Cos were saying goodbye to them all, as back to their billets they crawl

You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean, so cheer up my lads, Bless'em All

Now they say that the Sergeant's a very nice chap, oh what a tale to tell.

Ask him for leave on a Saturday night and he'll pay your fare home as well.

There's many an airman has blighted his life through writing rude words on the wall

You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean

So cheer up my lads bless 'em all

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 corprals and their blinkin sons,

'Cos were saying goodbye to them all, as back to their billets they crawl

You'll get no promotion this side of the ocean, so cheer up my lads, Bless'em All

Nobody knows what a twerp you have been, so cheer up my lads, bless them all

Jonpatterns (talk) 21:40, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Advertising

I seem to remember the song was used in the 1970s on an advertisement for Ritmeester Cigars with the line: "For every occasions Ritmeester has made them, the finest cigars of them all. Unfortunately I can't find a link so won't put on the main page unless someone else can corrorborate or provide a link. Coolavokig (talk) 16:42, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

"Twerp"

It's highly unlikely that 'twerp' was the term used in the original "Fuck 'em all" version. I don't have a reference, but knowing British obscene slang quite well, I suspect it's a substitute for 'cunt'. The song makes perfect sense with that substitution. Resentful British soldiers in the 20th century would be extremely unlikely to use the word 'twerp' or even be familiar with it. Ef80 (talk) 21:00, 28 December 2022 (UTC)