Colonel Bogey's March

Heard this tune after aeon's. A simple tune that one can whistle and lingers on!!

I never really looked into the creator and history behind this famous song until today. I always thought it was from an old classic film 'Bridge on the River Kwai' .

'The "Colonel Bogey March" is a popular march that was written in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881-1945), a British military bandmaster who was director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. Since at that time service personnel were not encouraged to have professional lives outside the armed forces, Ricketts published "Colonel Bogey" and his other compositions under the pseudonym Kenneth Alford. Supposedly, the tune was inspired by a military man and golfer who whistled a characteristic two-note phrase (a descending minor third interval) instead of shouting "Fore!". It is this phrase that begins each line of the melody. Bogey is golfing term meaning one over par.'


Details here

The song from the film- Bridge on the River Kwai :


This was also, our school Marching Song, not sure why my school selected this particular theme!

I also visited Kwai earlier this year, some pics here

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