Salonika

Trad

Oh, me husband’s in Salonika
And I wonder if he’s dead
And I wonder if he knows he has
A kid with a foxy head

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

When the war is over
What will the slackers do
They’ll be all around the soldiers
For the loan of a bob or two

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

And when the war is over
What will the soldiers do
They’ll be walking around with a leg and a half
And the slackers they’ll have two

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

And they taxed the pound of butter
And they taxed the ha’penny bun
And still with all their taxin’
They can’t bate the bloody Hun

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

They taxed the Colosseum
And they taxed St Mary’s Hall
Why don’t they tax the Bobbies
With their backs against the wall

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

When the war is over
What will the slackers do
For every kid in America
In Cork there will be two

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

They takes us out to Blarney
And they lays us on the grass
They puts us in the family way
And they leaves us on our ass

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

There’s lino in the parlour
And in the kitchen too
And a lovely glass back chiffonier
We got from Dickie Drew

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy

Oh, never marry a soldier
A sailor or a marine
But keep your eye on the Sinn Féin fan
With his yellow, white and green

So right away, so right away
So right away Salonika
Right away me soldier boy
So right away Salonika
Rght away me soldier boy

During the Great War (WW1), the Munster Fusiliers fought a long and bloody battle against Turkish forces in Salonika, Greece. The wives of these fusiliers got “seperation” money from the British Army in addition to the soldiers pay.

Men in Cork who “avoided” the war for political or other reasons became known as “slackers”. This song is a “slagging match” or a ball hopping contest between a “slackers” wife and a “sepera”, the wife of a Munster Fusilier.

As sung by The Dubliners.