Pogues, The - Recruiting Sergeant Lyrics






As I was walking down the road
A feeling fine and larky oh
A recruiting sergeant came up to me
Says he, you'd look fine in khaki oh
For the King he is in need of men
Come read this proclamation oh
A life in Flanders for you then
Would be a fine vacation oh

That may be so says I to him
But tell me sergeant dearie-oh
If I had a pack stuck upon my back
Would I look fine and cheerie oh
For they'd have you train and drill until
They had you one of the Frenchies oh
It may be warm in Flanders
But it's draughty in the trenches oh

The sergeant smiled and winked his eye
His smile was most provoking oh
He twiddled and twirled his wee mustache
Says he, I know you're only joking oh
For the sandbags are so warm and high
The wind you won't feel blowing oh
Well I winked at a cailin passing by
Says I, what if it's snowing oh

Come rain or hail or wind or snow
I'm not going out to Flanders oh
There's fighting in Dublin to be done
Let your sergeants and your commanders go
Let Englishmen fight English wars
It's nearly time they started oh
I saluted the sergeant a very good night
And there and then we parted oh





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Pogues, The Recruiting Sergeant Comments
  1. S.... S....

    I can hear and smell the horses as they race down the track.

  2. J.... E....

    Me eyes began to dazzle (on Market Street)

  3. P.... R....

    They never played it live enough.

  4. V.... N....

    I'm a Serbian, but I hate English people, they have tortured Irish people for many many years. One of the most respectable persons in history for my opinion is Michael Collins.

    V.... N....

    It's *ignorant* English people who are to blame. There are many English who hate the way the Irish and Scots were treated. The bastards who've done that in history had no right to do so, other than "it's for King and country" (= bollocks).

    V.... N....

    I can also recommend "Ireland: A Short History" by Joseph Coohill, an American author of Irish descent. It's fair to both traditions, the Nationalist and the Unionist.

    V.... N....

    So there's no decent English people at all then?

  5. J.... K....

    36 cunts Disliked this? Fuck aff cunts!!!!

  6. A.... B....

    Fuck me - when The Rocky Road To Dublin starts, I want to ram through the wall. That's what Irish music mixed with punk does to ya

  7. g.... l....

    Love it, mugging off a British Sargent 😆

  8. S.... M....

    The Pogues at their absolute peak. Faultless vocals, musicians and production. Amazing stuff. It doesn't get any better.

  9. J.... S....

    If you go to the races make sure you put a wager on 'Bottle of Smoke'.

  10. T.... H....

    Ireland The Best in The Word Greetings from Tim from Düsseldorf

  11. W.... R....

    Is that Spider singing with Shane?

    W.... R....

    It’s Terry Woods

  12. S.... C....

    Masterpiece

  13. J.... N....

    "The pink, the blue orange and green - the colours of our nation."

  14. C.... S....

    pelicans have big mouths and small brains. they go blind crashing into the sea for bait fish

  15. C.... ....

    1:26 always gets me, can't help but turn the volume all the way up

  16. I.... ....

    One of the greates albums ever made

  17. W.... ....

    Happy August 17th, everybody.

  18. P.... R....

    Ah be jaysus.
    Fine rebel stuff x

  19. M.... M....

    Great medley, Pogues and Shane in their prime

  20. D.... W....

    i love this. t y

  21. E.... ....

    Greetings from Sweden, I just LOVE this song... After i heard the Pogues hit with "Fairlytale of NewYork", I found this song. Its absolutely great, love the rhyme! Anyone who knows other irish songs likely to this one?

    E.... ....

    Emollzor101 the rising of the moon

    E.... ....

    Cant beat the Pogues

  22. F.... L....

    1:28 starts the best part

    F.... L....

    This is an instrumental version of the song Rocky Road to Dublin. If you want the full one with lyrics look the song up, it's a great tune. It's by the Dubliners who collaborated with the Pogues on this album.

  23. B.... -....

    [Recruiting Sergeant]As I was walking down the road
    A feeling fine and larky oh
    A recruiting sergeant came up to me
    Says he, you'd look fine in khaki oh
    For the King he is in need of men
    Come read this proclamation oh
    A life in Flanders for you then
    Would be a fine vacation oh

    That may be so says I to him
    But tell me sergeant dearie-oh
    If I had a pack stuck upon my back
    Would I look fine and cheerie oh
    For they'd have you train and drill until
    They had you one of the Frenchies oh
    It may be warm in Flanders
    But it's draughty in the trenches oh

    The sergeant smiled and winked his eye
    His smile was most provoking oh
    He twiddled and twirled his wee mustache
    Says he, I know you're only joking oh
    For the sandbags are so warm and high
    The wind you won't feel blowing oh
    Well I winked at a cailin passing by
    Says I, what if it's snowing oh

    Come rain or hail or wind or snow
    I'm not going out to Flanders oh
    There's fighting in Dublin to be done
    Let your sergeants and your commanders go
    Let Englishmen fight English wars
    It's nearly time they started oh
    I saluted the sergeant a very good night
    And there and then we parted oh[The Rocky Road to Dublin](instrumental)
     [Galway Races]As I went down to Galway Town
    To seek for recreation
    On the seventeenth of August
    Me mind being elevated
    There were passengers assembled
    With their tickets at the station
    And me eyes began to dazzle
    And they off to see the races

    With me wack fol the do fol
    The diddle idle day

    There were passengers from Limerick
    And passengers from Nenagh
    The boys of Connemara
    And the Clare unmarried maiden
    There were people from Cork City
    Who were loyal, true and faithful
    Who brought home the Fenian prisoners
    From dying in foreign nations

    And it's there you'll see the pipers
    And the fiddlers competing
    And the sporting wheel of fortune
    And the four and twenty quarters
    And there's others without scruple
    Pelting wattles at poor Maggie
    And her father well contented
    And he gazing at his daughter

    And it's there you'll see the jockeys
    And they mounted on so stably
    The pink, the blue, the orange, and green
    The colors of our nation
    The time it came for starting
    All the horses seemed impatient
    Their feet they hardly touched the ground
    The speed was so amazing!

    There was half a million people there
    Of all denominations
    The Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, the Presbyterian
    Yet no animosity
    No matter what persuasion
    But failte hospitality
    Inducing fresh acquaintance

    B.... -....

    Balayeuse - Street Sweeper - Bennes à Ordures cheers from west mayo flying coloumn

  24. s.... ....

    It's a little pity that "Rocky road to Dublin" is only instrumental and short.

    s.... ....

    solejen Words are stupid IMO and added long after the tune

    s.... ....

    The lyrics are great, but Shane does well to sing the Galway Races - and Bottle of Smoke - given how pissed he always is/was, so singing The Rocky Road to Dublin would be asking a lot.

    s.... ....

    @Morag MacGregor The lyrics to "Rocky Road" are well-thought-out and almost as brilliant as the tune, but Shane does well to get through "Galway Races", "Billy's Bones" or "Botte of Smoke", given how pissed he always is/was, and asking him to sing "The Rocky Road to Dublin" would be pushing it a mite.

    s.... ....

    @Alan Ainsworth
    My comment sounds rude and I apologize for that. T think that _some_ of the words are stupid and they are:

    Took a drop of the pure, keep me heart from sinkin'
    *_That's the Paddy's cure whenever he's on for drinkin'_*

    Now doesn't that sound like something meant to be sung in an English dancehall where "Paddy" is a pejorative term? I'm offended on behalf of the Irish.

    Just sayin. If you're Irish and you're not offended, I'll withdraw my objection. What do I know? I grew up in Arkansas.

    Totally agree about Shane getting through those words. It's a brilliant tune and making it an instrumental was a strategically sound decision.

    s.... ....

    They do a vocal version of it on Look Them Straight In the Eye.... Here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEe7_b6NHtA

  25. L.... B....

    One of the most brilliant recordings ever.

  26. D.... L....

    where is a live version? i cant find one on here now. If someone could link me to one i would be much appreciative! thanks yar an merry singin to ya!

  27. n.... ....

    FOR IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU

    n.... ....

    Ireland The Best in The Word , from Tim from Düsseldorf

    n.... ....

    @Tim Hesse yes brother cheers

    n.... ....

    Scotland's better, child

  28. S.... ....

    you have to listen to this just before the first race of the Cheltenham Festival . . .

    S.... ....

    Sally I always have the Pogues on for Cheltenham. Bottle of Smoke is another to get me in to Festival mode

  29. j.... s....

    the sergeant: pikes, flanders, that would be marlborough, churchill"s ancestor, and the war would be the 7 years one, no?

    j.... s....

    Fighting in Dublin to be done is the key. 1916? Slap bang in the middle of WW1

    j.... s....

    Khaki was also the uniform of the Tan's.

    j.... s....

    @Wolfington The Recruiting Sergeant is a (Irish) nationalist tune...

    j.... s....

    Jonathan Nicholson No shit Sherlock

    j.... s....

    @Wolfington My name isn't Sherlock...

  30. P.... H....

    I want to hate the Irish. Because they are cunts. But I can't. This music is just too good. Also, they know how to drink. I respect that.

    P.... H....

    Ah yes Ireland. Ive been to many countries but Ireland is one of the best that ive visited!

    P.... H....

    @Cooper Bradford cromwell would beg to differ. ahaha. tobacco island is a great song.

    dont be so patriotic every nation is good and bad. im 1/16 th irish so its alright, im not racist against the irish nor the over 200plus nation states.

    P.... H....

    this is a silly thread that makes me laugh. Cunts.

    P.... H....

    @steve trotter cock gobbler

    P.... H....

    You can Bitch about light all you want just don't complain about darkness

  31. S.... 1....

    Genious!

  32. d.... ....

    Why do the only play through rocky road to dublin once, so quickly you can miss it? I don't see it as missing anything that the rest have...

  33. D.... O....

    So unbeleivably good. Shane fuckin kicks ass..in his prime here

  34. M.... F....

    love the pogues,&dubliners,some craic

  35. J.... D....

    "Yet there was no animosity
    No matter what persuasion"

    Guess we can only dream of that on these boards. You folks listen to the music, but you don't hear it, do you?

  36. M.... M....

    TO HELL...OR CONNACHT??!!

  37. E.... J....

    ...because they want U.S. citizens dead. They think their god told them to do so. How do you rationalize your way out of that? "...they drew first blood."

  38. J.... S....

    What is wrong with you people - first it is a song about an irishman deciding not to join the British Army in WWI with a reference to the assault on the General Post Office ... then its about the races. Why do you take this opportunity to dump on the Jews? Haven't those poor people been through enough?

    J.... S....

    Fuck you

    J.... S....

    What are you on about at all at all?

  39. M.... L....



    so beautifull and powerfull song...

    @slipitinyersister : thanks for your comment ;)

  40. r.... ....

    why is this never loud enough,, even on full volume,,,on any player.. lol

  41. a.... ....

    And let American men fight American wars, in this day and age. Why the heck did so many nations join in with the US's war on Iraq?

    a.... ....

    The US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was seen as a legitimate act. The invasion might not have been the right thing to do, but it was seen as the 'right thing' to do in the wake of 9/11. Even though I disagree with that logic, I don't dispute the logic applied...

  42. D.... ....

    Let english men fight english wars, it's nearly time they started.

    D.... ....

    DexRok best line

    D.... ....

    Strikes me too but what am I gonna do eh?

    D.... ....

    It’s all about economic class not nationality.

  43. S.... Y....

    I FUCKING LOVE THIS/THESE SONG(S)

  44. S.... Y....

    Thanks so much!!

  45. D.... W....

    I listen to this over and over again. Amazing.

  46. S.... ....

    great song :D

  47. M.... ....

    one person's headed to flanders

  48. D.... H....

    great Song ,one of the best

  49. B.... O....

    on the seventeenth of August!!

  50. d.... g....

    when I have money I will buy the dicographie

  51. 6.... ....

    We haven't got no English to fight, we'd rather fight the Irish! Yeah!!

  52. h.... ....

    One Person is an English Recruiting Seargeant

  53. C.... A....

    One person thinks that Englishmen shouldn't fight English wars, oh!

    C.... A....

    "Let English men fight English war" is a reference to the idea that WWI is an imperialistic war fought by 'England' in the interests of England and not its colonial servants...

  54. M.... L....

    One of my favorite tracks ever. It's amazing.

  55. f.... ....

    Great track, great album.

  56. C.... O....

    @beamerball666 I saluted the seargent a very good night - there and then we parted oh!

  57. h.... ....

    Make English Men Fight English Wars it's nearly time they started oh

  58. h.... ....

    @johnny22190 just be glad there's no dislikes

  59. I.... ....

    One of the best albums ever

  60. S.... C....

    All For Ireland!!!!! GREAT Song :-)

  61. j.... ....

    live version sucks, haha sudio is better, as always, as with every artist

  62. j.... ....

    Why are there no views on this.... fuckin pathetic.... such a great song!!!