Soldier's Joy lyrics

[Dave Hunt]

I learned some lyrics from my mom when I was a kid. I'm not sure where she
got them. Her father was from Oklahoma and played the fiddle a little.
They may have come from him. Best I remember:

Continental soldiers on a bivouac
Playin' stud poker in a mountain shack
Big Dan Morgan came a gallopin' in
Said "We got Cornwallis in the ol' Cowpen."

chorus-
Jimmy get your fiddle out and rosin up the bow
Johnny tune your banjo up, we're gonna have a show
Bill pass the jug around to Corporal ol' McCoy
We're gonna have a tune called Soldier's Joy

The girls in Boston are dancin' tonight
Gosh darn Redcoats are holdin' 'em tight
When we get there we'll show 'em how
But that ain't a doin' us no good now.

chorus

John Paul Jones in an old tin can
You never saw such a fightin' man
British said, "Paul, are you ready to strike?"
Paul said, "I'm just beginnin' to fight."

chorus

I think there was at least one more verse. Anyone heard these before?

[BFost...@aol.com]

Ok here goes.....This thread is a bit long but.....

These words are from an album by Jimmie Driftwood that he cut back in 1958.
From the liner notes by Paul Ackerman, then Music Editor of Billboard -
"Kids in school who know something about American history love this
song. It is an old tune, derived from the American Revolution....."

Soldier's Joy

Some Continental soldiers on a bivouac,
Were playing stud poker in a mountain shack
But every Vigilante threw down his hand
When the Captain of the Guard gave a strong command.

Chorus: Oh, Jimmy get your fiddle out and rosin up the bow
Johhny, tune your banjo up we're gonna have a show
Billy pass the jug around, a Corper or McCoy

We're gonna have a tune called Soldier's Joy

The girls in Boston are dancin tonight

The galldurn Red Coats are holding them tight
When we get there we will show them how
But that ain't a-doing us no good now..........Chorus:

There goes General Washington
He's got his horse in a sweeping run
The bare-footed boys are a-beggin to fight
We're gonna cross the Delaware River tonight.........Chorus:

Old Burgoyne in the wilderness
Got his army in an awful mess
The farmer's got mad at the British and Huns
And captured 10,000 of them son-of-a-guns...........Chorus:

John Paul Jones in an old tin can

Scoured the ocean like a fighting man
The British said, "Paul are you ready to strike?"
Paul said, "I'm just beginning to fight".................Chorus:

General Washington and Rochambeau (sp?)
Drinking their wine in the camp fire glow
Big Dan Morgan came a-gallopin in
Sayin, "We got Cornwallis in the old Cow Pens!"........Chorus:

Wake up Buddy, Have you heard the news?
Grandma Britain got an awful bruise
The Red Coats cried and cursed your town
While the band played "The Worlds Turned Upside Down"....Chorus:

A homemade fiddle and a mandolin
An old banjo and a tamborine
A big dumb bully for the drummer boy
Everybody loves to hear the Soldier's Joy............Chorus

Bill Foster, WAMU
Music history on demand!!

[Oldtime1]

Bill got it right, but here's a bit more. Driftwood wrote lyrics for
several other traditional fiddle tunes after his big success with the
Eighth of January. (He used that commemorative tune for his lyrics, the
Battle of New Orleans.) Soldier's Joy is very old; appears in a 1786
print collection. Though Driftwood does not own the melody, I've seen
"The Eighth.. " in an instrumental version attributed to him on CD, a
dork buying what the seller does not own. Joe Wilson