Military Drill Song in Movies

Cafe Society
1

Posting for a colleague:

I am looking for examples of feature films about the US Armed Services which include variations on the marching song/cadence call for which the most familiar forms of words go either “I don’t know but I’ve been told…” or “Ain’t no use in going home…”. Any suggestions? If possible, please could you quote at least the first two lines of the version sung as well as the film title in your reply? (I already know about the version sung in FULL METAL JACKET, which certainly would do just that!)

Thanks Dopers!

2

An Officer and a Gentleman w/ Richard Gere and Louis Gosset, Jr.

"I don’t know but I been told
Navy wings are made of gold.

I don’t know but it’s been said,
Air Force wings are made of lead."

I’m pretty sure The D.I. w/ Jack Webb also has some, as well as Private Benjamin with Goldie Hawn.

Here’s a link to a cadence/jody website.

3

:bump:

4

What the movies show and what is in the semi-official song books and what the troops actually sang may well be two different things. For instance:

Birdie, birdie in the snow
Had a broken wing, you know.
Lured him with a piece of bread
Then I smashed his [little] head.
Sound off…

Heidi tidy Christ All Mighty
Who the hell are we?
Whiz Bang, Son of a Bitch
We’re in the infantry

Sergeant, sergeant
Can’t you see?
This P T is killing me

Some mothers have sons in the service,
Some mothers have sons overseas
But take down that service star, Mother
Cus’ I’m Coastal Artillery.

And of course from The Wizard of Oz:

Oh EEE Oh
Oh EEE Oh

And that old favorite (to the tune of Old Lang Singe):

We’re here because
We’re here because
We’re here because
We’re here.

5

I was always under the impression that this was not just nonsense syllables, but was an actual lyric:

“All we owe, we owe her.”

Don’t know if that’s true and I don’t have a cite, but hey, this ain’t GQ.

6

My favrite was always Up jumped a monkey from the coconut grove, but that was a running cadence not a marching cadence. For marching though, you can’t beat “King of Battle”.

Oh hell, oh hell Artillery!
Kiiiiiing of battle follow me.

7

Former Drill Sergeant puts on dusty old Brown Round

While I suppose there are several versions of most cadences, I’ve always known that one as:

All hail, All hail, Artillery!
King of battle follow me!

Brown Round goes back in box

As for the OP, I can’t recall any movies with that cadence.

8

The Stripes movie with Bill Murray had some rather original marching songs…sir!

9

In military school we had lots of them. I forget most, but there was a great one about Christopher Columbus. It’s kind of offensive, so I’ll put a POSSIBLY OFFENSIVE SONG WARNING!!!

The Queen she gave him three big ships,
they all were triple deckers
The Queen she wave the flag of Spain,
Columbo waved his pecker

He said the world was roundo
He said it could be foundo
The hypothetical, masturbating, sonofabitch, Columbo

The cabin boy, the cabin boy
the dirty little nipper
He lined his ass with broken glass
and circumcised the skipper

He said the world was roundo
Hw said it could be foundo
The hypothetical, masterbating, sonofabitch Columbo

etc…
Most of the cadences we sang were even more offensive than that, but we were kids and kids can be insensitve.