Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire (Roud

Roud Folk Song Index

The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of 300,000 references to over 21,600 songs that have been collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world...

 9618) is a war song of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. The song sarcastically recounts the location of various army members, not to be found in the combat zone, and concludes by describing the location of the old battalion: "hanging on the old barbed wire". This troop song was not popular with the officer class, who thought it bad for morale, though attempts to suppress it were unsuccessful.

Lyrics

There are several different versions of this song, though all share the chilling final two lines. One version goes like this:

If you want to find the Sergeant,

I know where he is, I know where he is, I know where he is.

If you want to find the Sergeant, I know where he is,

He's lying on the canteen floor.

I've seen him, I've seen him, lying on the canteen floor,

I've seen him, I've seen him, lying on the canteen floor.

If you want to find the Quarter-bloke

I know where he is, I know where he is, I know where he is.

If you want to find the Quarter-bloke, I know where he is,

He's miles and miles behind the line.

I've seen him, I've seen him, miles and miles and miles behind the line.

I've seen him, I've seen him, miles and miles and miles behind the line.

If you want the Sergeant-major,

I know where he is, I know where he is, I know where he is.

If you want the Sergeant-major, I know where he is.

He's tossing off the privates' rum.

I've seen him, I've seen him, tossing off the privates' rum.

I've seen him, I've seen him, tossing off the privates' rum.

If you want the C.O.,

I know where he is, I know where he is, I know where he is.

If you want the C.O., I know where he is

He is down in a deep dug-out,

I've seen him, I've seen him, down in a deep dug-out,

I've seen him, I've seen him, down in a deep dug-out.

If you want to find the old battalion,

I know where they are, I know where they are, I know where they are

If you want to find the old battalion, I know where they are,

They're hanging on the old barbed wire,

I've seen 'em, I've seen 'em, hanging on the old barbed wire.

I've seen 'em, I've seen 'em, hanging on the old barbed wire.