MARCHING SONG
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack—All you’ll need till you come back;All you’ll doff when you lie down to sleep;All they’ll take off when they bury you deep.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Boots that went light down the Suffolk laneWill shuffle and drag ere they tread it again.Nails that rang gay on the cobbled streetWill have pierced through the sock into somebody’s feet.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Belt—for water-bottle and sword:One to save life; the other—oh, Lord!’Fore you’ve finished with them, you bet,One will be dry and the other wet.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Rifle—the soldier’s only friend—True, if you treat her well, to the end:Feed her with five, and the tune she’ll playWill reach the heart of a Turkish Bey.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Pack—that holds what a man most wants:A shirt, an overcoat, socks and pants,A Bible, a photo of heart’s desire;But you’ll throw it away when you charge—or retire.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Leather and canvas, steel and wood,They’ll stand by you if you’re good;Keep them oiled and keep them dry,They’ll see you home safely—by and by.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.C. J. N.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack—All you’ll need till you come back;All you’ll doff when you lie down to sleep;All they’ll take off when they bury you deep.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Boots that went light down the Suffolk laneWill shuffle and drag ere they tread it again.Nails that rang gay on the cobbled streetWill have pierced through the sock into somebody’s feet.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Belt—for water-bottle and sword:One to save life; the other—oh, Lord!’Fore you’ve finished with them, you bet,One will be dry and the other wet.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Rifle—the soldier’s only friend—True, if you treat her well, to the end:Feed her with five, and the tune she’ll playWill reach the heart of a Turkish Bey.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Pack—that holds what a man most wants:A shirt, an overcoat, socks and pants,A Bible, a photo of heart’s desire;But you’ll throw it away when you charge—or retire.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.Leather and canvas, steel and wood,They’ll stand by you if you’re good;Keep them oiled and keep them dry,They’ll see you home safely—by and by.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.C. J. N.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack—All you’ll need till you come back;All you’ll doff when you lie down to sleep;All they’ll take off when they bury you deep.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack—
All you’ll need till you come back;
All you’ll doff when you lie down to sleep;
All they’ll take off when they bury you deep.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Boots that went light down the Suffolk laneWill shuffle and drag ere they tread it again.Nails that rang gay on the cobbled streetWill have pierced through the sock into somebody’s feet.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Boots that went light down the Suffolk lane
Will shuffle and drag ere they tread it again.
Nails that rang gay on the cobbled street
Will have pierced through the sock into somebody’s feet.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Belt—for water-bottle and sword:One to save life; the other—oh, Lord!’Fore you’ve finished with them, you bet,One will be dry and the other wet.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Belt—for water-bottle and sword:
One to save life; the other—oh, Lord!
’Fore you’ve finished with them, you bet,
One will be dry and the other wet.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Rifle—the soldier’s only friend—True, if you treat her well, to the end:Feed her with five, and the tune she’ll playWill reach the heart of a Turkish Bey.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Rifle—the soldier’s only friend—
True, if you treat her well, to the end:
Feed her with five, and the tune she’ll play
Will reach the heart of a Turkish Bey.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Pack—that holds what a man most wants:A shirt, an overcoat, socks and pants,A Bible, a photo of heart’s desire;But you’ll throw it away when you charge—or retire.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Pack—that holds what a man most wants:
A shirt, an overcoat, socks and pants,
A Bible, a photo of heart’s desire;
But you’ll throw it away when you charge—or retire.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Leather and canvas, steel and wood,They’ll stand by you if you’re good;Keep them oiled and keep them dry,They’ll see you home safely—by and by.Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
Leather and canvas, steel and wood,
They’ll stand by you if you’re good;
Keep them oiled and keep them dry,
They’ll see you home safely—by and by.
Boots, belt, rifle, and pack.
C. J. N.
C. J. N.