The Regular Army, Oh

Melody -

1. Three years ago, this very day,
I went to Govner's Isle
To stand ferinst the cannon
In true military style,
Thirteen American dollars
Each month we surely get,
To carry a gun and a bayonet
With a military step.

Refrain:
There's Sergeant John McCafferty
And Corp'ral Donahue
They make us march up
To the crack in gallant Company Q;
The drums they roll, upon my soul,
For that's the way we go
Forty miles a day on beans and hay
In the Regular Army, oh.

2. We had our choice of going
To the army or to jail,
Or it's up the Hudson River
With a cop to take a sail;
So we puckered up our courage
And with bravery we did go
And we cursed the day we marched away
With the Regular Army, oh!

3. The captain's name was Murphy,
Of "dacint French descint"
Sure he knew all the holy words
In the Hebrew testament;
And when he said to Hogan:
"Just move your feet a foot,"
Sure, Hogan jumped a half a mile
On Sergeant Riley's boot.
  4. The best of all the officers
Is Second Lieutenant McDuff;
Of smoking cigarettes
And sleep he never got enough.
Says the captain, "All we want of you
Is to go to Reveille,
And we'll let the first sergeant.
Run the company."

5. There's corns upon me feet,
Me boy, and bunions on me toes,
And lugging a gun in the red hot sun
Puts freckles on me nose
And if you want a furlough
To the captain you do go, and he says,
"Go to bed and wait till you're dead
In the Regular Army, oh."


6. We went to Arizona for
To fight the Indians there;
We were nearly caught bald-headed
But they didn't get our hair
We lay among the ditches
In the dirty yellow mud,
And we never saw an onion,
A turnip or a spud.

7. We were captured by the Indians
And brought ferinst the chafe
Says he, "We'll have an Irish stew,"
The dirty Indian thafe.
On the telegraphic wire
We skipped to Mexico,
And we blessed the day we marched away
From the Regular Army, oh!


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