when we begin the beguine, it brings back the sound of music so tender
when we begin the beguine, it brings back the sound of music so tender it brings back the night of tropical splendour;
 it brings back the memory evergreen
my job is to clean an army latrine, I'm the man with the plan of the pan that everyone uses the paper's ok, on both sides the news is to read when you dream in my latrine.
i scrub it all day at 4 in the morning, and keepit snow white, just as you expect it;
 and when it gets high I just didinfect it, remarkably clean is my latrine
i scrub it all day and I scrub it all night, my cobbercomes in and polishes the chain;
 there we are scrubbing together and wondring if we' ll ever get out the stains.
what rapture we've seen, what moments of bliss when crowds come along and we know our efforts are wasted they just let it go,don't carewhere they place it they don'thave toclean the latrine.
oh they won't keep it clean, that bloody latrine' though I make slots for the clots who take shots in different directions.
 though i've sand papered the seats so each can establish connections but I stillstand aloof, they can't hit the roof, it' sthe only place clean in my latrine.
if a man is a freak and must leak like a creek, the seats not complete lessit's all covered in paper when it' swet like an arrtists palette, keeping dry is the caper but I still stand aloof they can't hit the roof, it's the only pace clean in my latrine.
this song was recorded for me by brian ritchie, a neighbour, and darky edwards.
 both learned it during the korean war.
 brians version is for an air force latrine--both say they learned it from wwii vets.
 there are 2 last verses, the first one, the second to last verse is brians, the 'last' last verse is darky' s.
 darkys version was more 'complete' than brians.
 both said, or sang the tune as a 4 part song.
 because of hearing loss, while I culdhear the differences in the parts, it was hard to 'learn'them for transcribing, the originaltapes can be heard at the war memorial, or it can perhaps be purchasedas part of 30's music anthologies.
 darky sang this song during a 'sod's opera' aboard the hmas sydney on the way to rvn in 1965.
---this song has had a long 'service life',
of at least 3 wars.