The Caissons Go Rolling Along!
| Over hill, over dale
As we hit the dusty trail, And the Caissons go rolling along. In and out, hear them shout, Counter march and right about, And the Caissons go rolling along. Then it's hi! hi! hee! In the field artillery, Shout out your numbers loud and strong, For where e'er you go, You will always know That the Caissons go rolling along. Over hill, over dale As we hit the dusty trail, And the Caissons go rolling along. In and out, hear them shout, Counter march and right about, And the Caissons go rolling along. Then it's hi! hi! hee! In the field artillery, Shout out your numbers loud and strong, For where e'er you go, You will always know That the Caissons go rolling along. That the Caissons go rolling along. That the Caissons go rolling along. |
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Background: As
Those Caissons Go Rolling Along
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About This Music
As a lieutenant in the Fifth Field Artillery, Edmund Louis Gruber wrote the "Caissons Song" during service in the Philippines, while waiting in the field for the rest of the approaching caissons which were carrying ammunition. The sounds of the wagons and the men shouts of "keep em rolling!" inspired Gruber to write the words and music for "The Caissons Go Rolling Along."
The song is based on the " Caisson Song" written by field artillery First Lieutenant (later Brigadier General ) Edmund L. Gruber , Lieutenant William Bryden, and Lieutenant (later Major General) Robert Danford while stationed at Fort Stotsenburg in the Philippines in March 1908. The tune quickly became popular in field artillery units. In 1917 the Secretary of the Navy and Army Lieutenant George Friedlander of the 306th Field Artillery asked John Philip Sousa to create a march using the "Caisson Song." Sousa changed the key, harmony, and rhythm and renamed it "U.S. Field Artillery." The recording sold 750,000 copies. Sousa did not know who had written the song and had been told that it dated back to the Civil War . Upon learning of the true composer, he gave the royalties to Gruber. “The Caisson Song” was never designated as the official Army song likely because the lyrics were too closely identified with the field artillery and not the entire Army.