Ain’t It Grand to Be Bloomin’ Well Dead!
| AKA | Isn’t it grand boys Old Grandpa Look at the coffin Bloody well dead |
| First Published | 1932 |
| Writer/composer | Leslie Sarony | Roud | RN31292 |
| Music Hall Performers | Leslie Sarony |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: unknown mountaineer ; Scotland : Edinburgh ; no date (before 1955) Modern performances The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem Joan Baez Russ Chandler |
AIN'T IT GRAND TO BE BLOOMING WELL DEAD, Part 1 Words and music by Leslie Sarony, ©1932. As sung by Leslie Sarony, 1932. Lately there's nothing but trouble, grief and strife There's not much attraction about this bloomin' life Last night I dreamt I was bloomin' well dead As I went to the funeral, I bloomin' well said, Look at the flowers, bloomin' great orchids Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! And look at the corfin, bloomin' great 'andles Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! I was so 'appy to think that I'd popped off I said to a bloke with a nasty, 'acking cough Look at the black 'earse, bloomin' great 'orses Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the bearers, all in their frock coats Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! And look at their top 'ats, polished with Guinness Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! Some people there were praying for me soul I said, "It's the first time I've been off the dole" Look at the mourners, bloomin' well sozzled Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the children, bloomin' excited Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the neighbours, bloomin' delighted Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! "Spend the insurance", I murmered, "For alack, You know I shan't be with you going back" Look at the Missus, bloomin' well laughing Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! Look at me Sister, bloomin new 'at on Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! And look at me Brother, bloomin' cigar on Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! We come from clay and we all go back they say Don't 'eave a brick it may be your Aunty May Look at me Grandma, bloomin' great haybag Ain't it grand, to be bloomin' well dead! AIN'T IT GRAND TO BE BLOOMING WELL DEAD, Part 2 Words and music by Leslie Sarony, ©1932. As sung by Leslie Sarony, 1932. Where oh where has our Leslie gone? Oh where oh where can he be? He promised to be on the other side. Ha-ha, ho-ho, hee-hee! [Spoken] I've got me eye on ya! You're the blokes that told me to learn to play the bloomin' 'arp. I 'aven't played a bloomin' note since I've been 'ere. Look at the florists countin' their profits. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the lawyers readin' the will out. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Taxes an' rent I'll 'ave no need to pay. I've dodged 'em by bloomin' well snuffin' it. Hooray! Look at the landlord, bloomin' ol' shylock! Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the bulldog (arf!) bloomin' well barkin'. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the tomcat (meow!) bloomin' well flirtin'. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! People said 'e was so good to the poor. I said as I thought what they called me before: Look at the sexton. Bloomin' great shovel! Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Look at me schoolmates bloomin' well gigglin'! Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the earthworms bloomin' well wrigglin'! Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! All my old Chinas I saw them standin' round. I said as they slowly lowered me in the ground: Look at the tombstones, granite with knobs on. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Now it's all over. Look at them scarpering. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Look at the weather bloomin' well raining. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Then I awoke with a really shocking start. I found me in bed with the missus of me 'eart. I got the milk in. Baby was screaming. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead! Isn't it grand boys (as sung by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem) Look at the coffin with golden handles Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead? Let's not have a sniffle, Let's have a bloody good cry And always remember the longer you live, The sooner you'll bloody well die Look at the mourners, bloody great hypocrites Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead? Look at the flowers, all bloody withered Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead? Look at the preacher, bloody sanctimonious Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead? Look at the widow, bloody great female Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead? Look at the tombstone, bloody great boulder Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead? Look at the whiskey, in buckets and bottles Isn't it grand boys to be bloody well dead?
A comic song from the 1930s adapted and adopted by Irish and American singers in the late twentieth century.
Arguably not a Music Hall song as such, but a great comic song from the variety stage of the 1930s composed, written and sung Lesley Sarony. It was also performed and recorded by several other British variety artistes in the 1930s, including: George Jackley, Roy Leslie, The Barmy Brothers and Billy Cotton. The recording of Sarony’s performance given below was released in April 1932 on Imperial Recordings:
The success of Sarony’s version prompted US band leader Alex Bertha to revise the lyrics for an American audience and record it for RCA Victor in July 1932, albeit under a revised title: It must be swell laying out dead. This “borrowing” of Sarony’s song was almost certainly without permission and probably explains why RCA Victor very quickly deleted the release, which became something of a rarity. Here is a recording reproduced on YouTube:
Bertha’s version seems to disappear until early jazz enthusiasts discovered the recording in the 1970s. It doesn’t seem to have influenced the traditional performers who adopted the song.
Renditions of the songs in the folk revival are often assumed to start with The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem who sang a simplified version with a new chorus:
Let’s not have a sniffle;
Let’s have a bloody good cry,
And always remember, the longer you live,
The sooner you’re going to die
This version, usually called Isn’t it grand boys was the title track of their 1966 album studio album. Their version in turn was taken up by Joan Baez and other folk revival singers.
The Clancy Brothers have sometimes been credited with amending Sarony’s original Music Hall piece to produce the simplified chorus song, but there is considerable evidence that it was being sung under the title “Bloody Well Dead” in American colleges as early as the 1940s. The earliest evidence of this version that I can find is in the 1948 edition of the IOCA Song Fest, a collection of songs sung by members of the Intercollegiate Outing Club Association, an organisation of college outdoor activities clubs. Correspondents on the Mudcat site suggest it was widely sung by scouts and in rugby clubs from the 1950s on. In 1961 it was recorded by a group of Harvard Students using the name The Raunch Hands. It appears in the 1965 Song Sheets of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, so it was also sung in informal military settings.
It was published in 1955 as “Old Grandpa” in Bennet’s Edinburgh Mountaineering Song Book (Revised edn., 1955) p.23
Here’s Russ Chandler returns to the Sarony original:
Sources:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A31292
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- “Alex Bartha” in Tom Lord (1992) The Jazz Discography.
- Mudcat thread
- “Bloody Well Dead” in Dick and Beth Best (1948) IOCA Song Fest p14 in Jack Horntip Collection see also the 1955 edition
- 1965 Song Sheets of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps