# Variations In Lyrics to 'Good King Wenceslas'?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [October 25, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188 "2021-10-25T20:10:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/1 "2021-10-25T20:10:45Z")
I’ve actually noticed this phenomenon in several songs. They were allegedly written by one artist, but the lyrics are sometimes markedly different (don’t get me started on _Battle Hymn of the Republic_ 😉 ). But you’d ask for examples. So I’ll give you just one.
_Good King Wenceslas_.
According to [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_King_Wenceslas) the song was written in 1853 by John Mason Neale. Yet there seems to be disagreement about one lyric.
In the most commonly used version, the second stanza goes '_bring me meat and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither’_.
Interestingly enough, I found this very old book of children’s Christmas activities that apparently belonged to my father when he was a little boy. And the second stanza goes '_bring the choicest food of mine, bring me pine logs hither…_
Why such a great difference? And is this obscure version ever used anymore? It’s my favorite version, at least. I even copied it and often share it with people around yuletide.
Explanations? Opinions? 🙂
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### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/2 "2021-10-25T20:16:28Z")
Maybe it’s a bowdlerization of the original to remove the reference to an alcohol drink?
The version I learned was “_bring me flesh and bring me wine_”.
> **[Expurgation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expurgation)**
>
> Pages for logged out editors learn more
>
> Expurgation, also known as bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media.
> The term bowdlerization is a pejorative term for the practice, particularly the expurgation of lewd material from books. The term derives from Thomas Bowdler's 1818 edition of William Shakespeare's plays, which he reworked in ways that he felt were more suitable for ...
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/3 "2021-10-25T21:49:00Z")
Good King Sauerkraut, look out! On your feets uneven.
In a similar vein, is there a canon version of Twelve Days of Christmas? Our Perry Como Xmas album had a few of the gifts out of order compared to other recordings.
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### Author:  [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/4 "2021-10-25T21:49:24Z")
The only one I know is:
“Good King Octopus looked down
On his feets uneven.”
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/5 "2021-10-25T21:50:24Z")
EVERYBODY SING!!! Ohhhhhhhhh… .
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### Author:  [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/6 "2021-10-25T21:58:21Z")
> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> The version I learned was “_bring me flesh and bring me wine_”.
This is the only version I’ve ever heard.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/7 "2021-10-25T22:05:16Z")
That’s the only version I’ve ever seen.
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/8 "2021-10-26T00:20:51Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> Good King Sauerkraut, look out! On your feets uneven.
[_Good King Kong looked out on his feet, and he saw that they were large…_](https://www.divageek.org/page-pdq-kingkong/)
Also available in sound form…
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wzq8lo8Ryk)
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/9 "2021-10-26T00:32:24Z")
Nice!! Pass that nog around! 😉
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/10 "2021-10-26T00:38:30Z")
_Good King Wences’ car backed out_
_On the feet of Stephen._
_"Watch out, king, I’ll get you yet;_
_Yes, I will get even."_
_Later on that very day_
_Stephen kept his wo-ord:_
_He shot Wences with a bang,_
_And that’s the last I hea-a-rd._
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/11 "2021-10-26T14:09:51Z")
Bowdlerization is always a possibility. My Mom, ever a religious teetotaler, was quite upset by the line in the Cinderella musical, “I want the wine of my country! The wine of my country is _beer!_” Mom thought that should never be played to a kid, and wanted to edit it out, even though it was only a fairy tale story.
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### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/12 "2021-10-26T18:12:26Z")
I also might as well include, in the most common version, King Wenceslas says _Hither, page, and stand by me If though knowst it telling_. In my version he says _Higher, page and stand by me, If though knowst it telling_.
I actually like my version on this one too. The common version had too many _hithers_ IMHO. 🙂
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### Author:  [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/13 "2021-10-26T18:38:36Z")
_Good King Wencelsas looked out,_
_On the Feast of Stephen,_
_Caught a snowball in the snout,_
_Now his face’s uneven!_
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### Author:  [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)
#### Post date: [October 26, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/variations-in-lyrics-to-good-king-wenceslas/953188/14 "2021-10-26T18:46:14Z")
When I was in Primary School:
Good King Wenceslas looked out
Eating bad bananas
Where’d you think he put the skins?
Down his dad’s pyjamas