Talk:Colonel Bogey March

Untitled

An infobox was requested for the 1958 recording by Mitch Miller and His Orchestra and Chorus at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Missing_encyclopedic_articles/List_of_notable_songs/9.

The Malcolm Arnold addition

I'm not clear as to Malcolm Arnold's addition that was composed for the film. Guess I would have to hear it played - don't know any way anyone could add it to the article, unless a midi of it is linked somewhere.

An interesting musical 'fact' regarding the 'interval' described herein as a "minor 3rd". This minor third description almost makes it sound like the tune is in a "minor key"... Let's be clear, it is actually whistling this interval (minor 3rd), as the 5th to the 3rd of a MAJOR chord. If you go down a full Major-3rd from the lower note of this famous melodic "2nd note", you'll hear that the key is THERE. In fact if you keep whistling all the way through the melody to the end, you'll finally land on that 'root' note...68.121.18.3 (talk) 19:01, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

The River Kwai March

The page for "Bridge Over the River Kwai" says the River Kwai March is another name for Colonel Bogey. But I seem to remember hearing a genuinely new River Kwai March (actually it is Colonel Bogey, but with a new counter-melody added). Is my memory playing tricks, ro was it rewritten?

Cheers, Wol

Just heard it played on Radio Two last night. The River Kwai March is indeed a new composition, the counter melody is by Sir Malcolm Sargent.

Cheers, Wol

I don't suppose this would ever go into the wikipedia, but preserved here for temporary posterity, until the great slaughter of the talk pages in 2018, one set of World War II lyrics to Colonel Bogey, bold and commas for simulating rhythm:

Hitler has only one left ball,

Goebbels has two but they're quite small

Himmler has something sim'lar,

And Mussolini hasn't any, at all!

Ortolan88

Should we ever ammass a treasury of all the variants, here's the page that's currently a redirect to here: Hitler has only got one ball. In the meantime, IMO, it's better all on one article, since I think most readers will read both. -- Tarquin 22:30 Oct 14, 2002 (UTC)

Okay, Tarquin, should the lyrics be here or on the "ammass" page. Don't see any point in both, but if this is offensive, why not pull the skimpy seventh veil of discretion over them and post them on the "one ball" page? Ortolan88 17:17 Nov 4, 2002 (UTC)

I'd say put them all here, unless we start to have dozens of them and it turns into YetAnotherRepositoryOfStuff page (qv collective nouns, etc) -- Tarquin 17:27 Nov 4, 2002 (UTC)

I'd day put one here and tuck the rest away. That will encourage contribution of even more vulgar versions and yet respect the sensibilities of the readers. Ortolan88 23:10 Nov 4, 2002 (UTC)

Yeah, okay. -- Tarquin 23:45 Nov 4, 2002 (UTC) (looking forward to these more vulgar versions!)

---

I disagree with moving the "Hitler has only one ball" here. I thought having it on a seperate page with a link to it was a much better solution.

The Colonel Bogey March is a nice piece of music, and the original composer and publication had nothing to do with Hitlerian monorchicism. That subject now takes up some 3/4 of the article. What next, a long discussion of ducks on the John Phillip Sousa page, because some people sing "Be Kind to your Web-Footed Friends" to the tune of one of his marches? -- Infrogmation 16:24 Nov 11, 2002 (UTC)

I agree. I think, salty talker though I am and strong proponent of having these lyrics in the Wikipedia, that it is generally much better to put potentially offensive material on a separate link so people can decide if they want to see it. No censorship, just consideration for the reader. Ortolan88

You're right. Let's put all the lyrics on the other page and make a mention of the piece of music being used as a war song here: it makes more sense. -- Tarquin

How about Colonel Bogey March (alternate lyrics)? Same for "...a duck may be somebody's mother" --Ed Poor

Ed, I think you misunderstand. The lyrics are at Hitler has only got one ball; Infrog's point is that they are a separate entity from the march which is an instrumental piece of music. -- Tarquin

Actually, I think Ed has a point. When I was a kid, the only lyrics I knew to that song were, "Comet, it tastes like listerine. Comet, it makes your teeth turn green. Comet, it makes you vomit. So get some Comet, and vomit, today". Then again, the "Comet" version is an example of a certain category of children's variants of certain songs. Another example I can think of is "Glory, glory hallelujah, teacher hit me with a ruler", sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic". So maybe we need an article on children's variants to popular song lyrics. soulpatch

That would be cool. You could add the trademark paranoids to the copyright paranoids. Ortolan88

Well, I think the "Hitler" part of the link is valuable information. I would also think that "web-footed friends" should be mentioned in the other case. Ortolan88

All I care about is where the one-ball lyrics go:

(A) Colonel Bogey March

(B) Hitler has only got one ball

(C) both places

I'd rather not have the duplication of (C), if you don't mind. --Ed Poor

• I've returned it to (B), with (A) having a link to (B). I think that's the most sensible solution, since they are really two seperate (though related) topics. -- Infrogmation 21:40 Nov 14, 2002 (UTC)

Colonel Bogey March MIDI

I uploaded this file to my own website as Fortunecity don't like hotlinking, and redirected the original link to a .jpeg Peter1968 09:04, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

The Parent Trap

I'm pretty sure the song whistled by the kids in The Parent Trap was actually the theme to The Great Escape.

It was indeed the Colonel Bogey March. Kostaki mou (talk) 00:29, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

US Navy

Re-up, and get your VRB; Re-up, and drive an XKE; Re-up, I'd rather throwup; Than be a lifer, forever a puke.

circa 1972 FWIW, LorenzoB 19:20, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Beyond the Fringe (Dudley Moore) version

• Can I take it that the use of "playbill" indicates a US point of view here? I've seen / own several UK programmes from various points in BTF's 60s run and they all list it as "And The Same To You", under which title it also appears on the "Complete Beyond The Fringe" CD, and indeed the piano score in the "Complete Beyond The Fringe" script book (published some years before the CD) also bears that title. Never heard of it being called "The Kwai Sonata" in anything related to the London run, so I'm guessing that title was US-only. -88.110.219.32 (talk) 10:06, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Original Lyrics

I remember that Robert Q. Lewis once sang the original lyrics on his television show. As well as I can remember, they began, "Hello, the sun is shining bright." Anyone know the rest? Kostaki mou (talk) 00:31, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

No mention of the whistling?

All my life I have known this march with whistling included, including my favorite recording of it with John Williams and the Boston Pops. There should be something on how the whistling came about. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.171.9.179 (talk) 07:24, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

merge

Please note : There is a discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Songs/coverversions with the purpose of trying to establish a standard rule for merge/separate different versions of the same song. Please make known your opinions on the matter. --Richhoncho (talk) 10:36, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

It would seem Hitler Has Only Got One Ball is beyond being a simple cover version (I tend to agree with the general guideline in theory, unless, of course, the cover itself has its own notability) and has a separate cultural status. So I say we keep this here, although a more specific merge discussion could be held here, I just don't feel that applies to this case. Given the time that has passed it'd be worth removing the merge notice and, if people think it is an idea, a new merge discussion could be started for this article on its own merits. (Emperor (talk) 10:42, 21 July 2010 (UTC))

Keep them separate. There is a whole social chapter of how after WWII the song went into the playgrounds of Britain, and took on a life of its own. That the tune came from somewhere else is not relevant to that story and the story is not directly relevant to this page.-- PBS (talk) 12:39, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

It seems like "Hitler Has Only Got One Ball" goes beyond just a version. I am removing the tag. ENeville (talk) 17:28, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Just North America?

Someone keeps claiming the good colonel for the west side of the pond -- he was certainly adopted by the west bank, but in his Edwardian youth -- check your newspapers -- the Col. Bogey `system' was played, and began, in the land of his birth -- the East Bank! Wyresider (talk) 01:40, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

Additional citations

Why and where does this article need additional citations for verification? What references does it need and how should they be added? Hyacinth (talk) 09:24, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

With the exception of the trivial "In popular culture" section, this one seems pretty well cited. I've removed the heading tag. I think in-line cite needed tags can be used for any needed cites on this one. - SummerPhD (talk) 17:16, 10 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks. Hyacinth (talk) 00:45, 11 March 2012 (UTC)

"In popular culture" section

This section:

• contains trivial, minor or unrelated references in popular culture
• does not explain the subject's impact on popular culture
• simply lists appearances. - SummerPhD (talk) 04:36, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

Removing some of trivial references and part of the simple list while not adding any sourced explanation of the supposed impact on popular culture leaves a smaller section containing a simple list of trivial appearances with no sourced explanation of the supposed impact on popular culture. - SummerPhD (talk) 05:45, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

I am (again) going to remove random appearances/uses of the song, per Wikipedia:"In popular culture" content. Comments? - SummerPhD (talk) 12:32, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

Are you proposing to blank this whole section? You have explained neither your criteria for considering some of the information in this section "trivial" or "minor" and other information worthy of inclusion, nor how simply deleting contributions will turn this section into one that "explains the subject's impact on popular culture". Until you come up with a better section, simply deleting information (unstructured as it may be) which is accurate, verifiable and connected to the topic of the article does not seem very constructive. Contact Basemetal here 17:48, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

I am suggesting, as explained at Wikipedia:"In popular culture" content, that a random selection of bare mentions says nothing about the song's impact on popular culture. Instead, it presents the biased view that the particular mentions included are more notable than those we have not included. Exhaustive, indiscriminate lists are discouraged, as are passing references to the article subject. Instead of the present indiscriminate collection of trivia or cruft, with no reliable sources, (which is not at all constructive) we remove it. If there are reliable sources that actually discuss the song's impact on popular culture, feel free to add it. - SummerPhD (talk) 20:10, 5 July 2013 (UTC)

The Lady Vanishes

Michael Redgrave (Gilbert) hums this tune from the bathroom in the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock film, "The Lady Vanishes" at around 23:11. This is nowhere as significant a use as "The Bridge On the River Kwai", but might go in a section like the "Uses in other media" section of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket". I don't know enough to figure out a real reference or to fit style/editing standards, but if someone experienced is working on similar things it's something to consider. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Phsshp (talk • contribs) 18:29, 18 October 2014 (UTC)

I just heard this, too, on Turner Classic Movies! The post above was added in 2014 -- why hasn't this info been added to the article? Is there no editor for this page? Jeannemcd (talk) 13:14, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

The bit of the tune in that film is equivalent to a passing mention and may be too trivial to include. If a use of the tune in popular culture is genuinely significant it should be possible to find a reliable secondary source that supports that judgment (per MOS:POPCULT). This article already contains some unsourced examples that could be trimmed. Ewulp (talk) 23:59, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

Physics

For baby-boomers in the United States, the most familiar re-use of the tune is from the early November 1963 issue of the college newspaper column "On Campus with Max Shulman" titled "I WAS A TEEN-AGE SLIDE RULE":

Physics
Is what we learn in class.
Einstein
Said energy is mass.
Newton
Is high-falutin'
And Pascal's a rascal. So's Boyle.

Leyden
He made the Leyden jar.
Trolley
He made the Trolley car.
Curie
Rode in a surrey
And Diesel's a weasel. So's Boyle.

(This column was a thinly disguised ad for cigarettes and was eventually discontinued because of the ban on such ads in college newspapers.)

agb — Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.43.206.51 (talk) 20:47, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

This would be from Columbia Daily Spectator, Volume CVIII, Number 31, 11 November 1963. We'll need sources for its popularity, though. Paradoctor (talk) 21:09, 31 October 2014 (UTC)

Comet

Although it's predictable that a party pooper would remove the well-known Comet (song) (for lack of references, but that article lists several), this article still has a Comet reference without the explanation: "... a tune reminiscent of the Comet tune with similar lyrics ..." Art LaPella (talk) 17:00, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

Resolved

 – Art LaPella (talk) 17:04, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

Breakfast Club

Wouldn't this reference to pop culture make more sense to the reader if it explained WHY they were whistling this particular song? It was supposed to be a protest against their "unfair detention" by metaphorically comparing themselves to the forced labor prisoners in the film Bridge Over the River Kwai, once of the most famous scenes from the film. A person who has never seen the film won't understand any of this, and it doesn't help them much to know the bare fact. Those who watched the movie and didn't understand the song aren't likely to happen to end up here, since they don't know what the song is called to look it up. Even if they did, coming here and reading what is written won't help them to understand the reason they were whistling that exact song. If they did watch it and DID get the joke, then telling them that the song was in the move isn't going to do any good, since they already know it.

64.222.111.216 (talk) 23:27, 12 October 2020 (UTC)

Contradictory information

see below; the first and last sentences contradict each other in the origin of the piece's the usage in The Bridge on the River Kwai, and neither have citations, only hearsay. Someone needs to resolve these differences.

A British actor, Percy Herbert, who appeared in The Bridge on the River Kwai suggested the use of the song in the movie. According to Kevin Brownlow’s interviews with David Lean, it was actually David Lean who knew of the song and fought during the screenwriting process to have it whistled by the troops. He realized it had to be whistled rather than sung because the lyrics were racy and would not get past the censors. Percy Herbert was used as a consultant on the film because he had first-hand experience of Japanese POW camps, he was paid an extra £5 per week by director David Lean. However, he did not suggest the song. Deliusfan (talk) 18:35, 25 May 2023 (UTC)