Irving Berlin wrote the words to reveille in the song “Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning”(1918). This was sung the in musical This Is the Army (1943). In that same musical, a Ms. Kate Jackson sang “God Bless America.”
You may need to visit here soon then so I can drop a few suggestions on the young lad… No need to thank me…
I knew there were words to these things, I just never went to the trouble of finding out exactly what they were - figured it was a pretty safe bet I’d never be asked to sing any of 'em…
It goes
I hate to get up I hate to get up I hate to get up in the morning
I hate to get up I hate to get up I hate to get up in the morn
I’m gonna kill that bugler I’m gonna kill him fast
I’m gonna take the bugle and cram it up his a$$!
I hate to get up etc etc
I’d be a tad careful to accept any texts as “official” unless they were found in an Army bugler’s manual. (Or wahtever Armyese term is used for this piece of gear.)
Back when bugle signals were actually used for communication, part of military training would be to memorize them. Putting words to them and thus making them singable would be an obvious teaching aid - and a lot of the texts were probably made locally and propagated through the ranks by word of mouth, before some senior officer wrote them down, presumably sanitized them quite a bit and put them in The Book.
(The Danish text for reveille is about going to the barracks store, buying aquavit and drinking it on your own. Of course, the tune is not exactly as annoyingly cheerful as the American one.)
S. Norman
I am (I think) and intelligent, worldly, well read adult and I did not know Taps had words. ::shrug::
Zette