The tragic tale of a foreign girl forced into prostitution in England during the First World War, and the terrible fate that awaited so many of the soldiers. Many, many thanks to Ale Destiny for her poignant and plaintive vocal.
“Many home-front brothels served an increased number of clients following the war’s outset owing to the influx of men in arms preparing to go into the field.”
- Journey Steward (International Encyclopedia of the First World War)
Slang used in the song:
Dose: (in this case) a venereal infection
Dough: money
Slut: term for a person, usually a woman or girl, who is sexually promiscuous or considered to have loose sexual morals. It dates from the late 14th century in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, although ironically he was describing a man!
Squaddies: soldiers
The clap: gonorrhea (The narrator in this song gets gonorrhea, or the clap, which was rampant at the time because so many soldiers were catching it from the prostitutes operating near the front. Many of those soldiers, believe it or not, were still virgins and didn't want to die without experiencing sex)
Whore: prostitute
lyrics
Lyrics
There’s many a squaddie comes visiting
From the barracks up the road
And they all, if they pay, get a welcome
And a rest from a soldier’s load
They’ll be fighting for King and country
And be paid with a grisly end
So, the least we can do is to hold them
To be, for a while, their friend
To be, for a while, to be, for a while
To be, for a while, their friend
Ah me, I was born in a Catholic land
I’ve no love for you Protestant lads!
But I got put in the family way
And reviled as sinful and bad
I’m in England now, a whore for sure
But I dance and I sing and I play
And the squaddies laugh so innocently
As night gives way to the day
As night gives way to
as night gives way to
As night gives way to the day
I fell in love with an Irish boy
No more tender a lad you could meet
He was set to ask me to marry
But was lost in some bloody retreat
I’m carrying his child in my belly
But it’s whoring that brings in the dough
I’m to visit some witch in an alley
To make sure that there’s nothing to show
Make sure that there’s nothing,
Make sure that there’s nothing
Make sure that there’s nothing to show
The doctor says that I got the clap
A soldier, I’ll bet, from the front
The sluts down there do a roaring trade
Death so close, that they bear the brunt
Of virgins wanting a taste of the flesh
‘fore their bodies are ripped to shreds
And if they survive, return with their dose
To pass on in the heat of our beds
Pass on in the heat, pass on in the heat
To pass on in the heat of our beds
Yes, many a squaddie comes visiting
And will do for some time to come
But will there be any lads left alive
To march to the military drum
Yes, soldiers are welcome, one and all
And will be for some time to come
But where are all of the marrying types
To save us from our whoredom
To save us from our, to save us from our …
To save us from our whoredom
credits
from One Singer Left to Mourn,
track released August 11, 2023
Music: Michael Sellers; Sergio Aguilar
Lyrics: Michael Sellers
Lead Vocal: Ale Destiny
Backing Vocals: Alejandro Hidalgo & Michael Sellers
Guitars & bass, piano, percussion; musical arrangement, & production: Sergio Aguilar
Cover photo: Photo by The British Library on Unsplash, combined with a photo provided by Loretta Sellers Fortuny
Cover design: Michael Sellers; Loretta Sellers Fortuny
Soulful guitar interplay form the heart of this lovely Americana collaboration from Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 2, 2018
