Away With Rum
We're coming we're coming. Our brave little band
On the right side of temperance we now take our stand.
We don't use tobacco because we do think
That the people who do so are likely to drink.
[Chorus]
Away, away, with rum, by gum,
With rum, by gum, with rum, by gum,
Away, away, with rum, by gum,
The song of the Salvation Army.
We never eat cookies because they have yeast
And one little bite makes a man like a beast.
Oh, can you imagine a sadder disgrace,
Than a man in the gutter with crumbs in his face?
[Chorus]
We never eat fruitcake because it has rum,
And one little slice puts a man on the bum.
Oh, can you imagine a sorrier sight,
Than a man eating fruitcake until he gets tight?
[Chorus]
Commentary
Franklin P. Adams’ “Prohibition” inevitably brought this to mind. Here, the song tweaks the temperance movement (there are versions with “Temperance Union” rather than “Salvation Army”) for going to intemperate extremes, but the underlying message is that anything that seems like a pretty good idea in the first place (in the specific case, immoderate consumption of alcohol can lead to disastrous results) when taken to its logical extremes can be absurd and even violent.
When I first learned this song, I understood the words to the chorus as “Away, away with rum, buy gum” (rather than “by gum”), possible because we sang the final chorus as:
Away, away with gum, buy rum
With gum, buy rum, with gum, buy rum,
Away, away with gum, buy rum,
The salvation song of the army."
Which brings me to the next point: Like many folk songs, this is a kind of oral poetry that gives license to its “users” to invent verses and variations of their own. A collection of these - some of them quite funny - can be seen at http://www.whitetreeaz.com/awayrum.htm.
— Vivian
Links
The guitar chords are here:
http://www.thetabworld.com/Bikel_Theo__Away_With_Rum_guitar_chord_printable.html
Biography
Austrian-born character actor, folk singer and musician (1924-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Bikel
Bikel’s website:
http://www.bikel.com/
Show 2 commentsHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Priscilla Jebaraj · 30 August 2006
Sing a song of Europe, highly civilized,
Four and twenty nations wholly hypnotised,
When the battle opens, the bullets start to sing – Isn’t it a silly way to act for any King?
The Kings are in the background, issuing commands, The Queens are in the parlours, per etiquette’s demand; The bankers in the country house are busy multiplying The common people at the front are doing all the dying.
In his comments on the last poem, Vivian had said, “Like many folk songs, this is a kind of oral poetry that gives license to its ‘users’ to invent verses and variations of their own.” I immediately remembered a variation on Sing a Song of Sixpence that a former classmate and current Minstrels member Amulya Gopalakrishnan used to quote. As far as I remember, it was about the confusion of the European Union. Or was it the Common Market? I couldn’t find it on the net (Amu, if you’re reading this, do send the lyrics you used to sing), but I did find this earlier parody, apparently Australian in origin. It was published in a 1928 edition of The Iron Worker, a newspaper of the NSW, a branch of Federated Ironworkers Association. It refers, I would guess, to World War I. But since the War to End All Wars didn’t quite succeed in that, don’t you think the meaning is applicable to any modern war as well?
Priscilla
Assiniboine · 30 August 2006
Dear Martin, Thomas and Sitaram,
And a catchy little ditty it is, but in Canada far better known with the lyrics “North Atlantic Squadron,” a product of the Royal Canadian Navy. Alas, its lyrics are so filthy (though hilarious) that I forbear to quote them – any of its eighty-plus verses.
Mac