Lyrics for Corporal Clegg as interpreted by Demau Senae

Corporal Clegg Lyrics
Corporal Clegg had a wooden leg
he won it in the war in nineteen forty four
Corporal Clegg had a medal too
in orange and blue, he found it in the zoo

Dear oh dear, oh are they really sad for me
dear oh dear, oh will they really laugh at me
Mrs. Clegg, you must be proud of him
Mrs. Clegg, another drop of gin
Corporal Clegg received his medal in a dream
from Her Majesty the Queen, his boots were very clean

Corporal Clegg, umbrella in the rain
he's never been the same but no one is to blame

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SongMeanings
01-05-2002

Rated 0 
I know a lot of people give Dave heat for writing the Dogs of War, but come on this is a horrible song. What was Rog thinking?

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phatz
05-12-2002

Rated 0 
it's not that bad,
Dave/waters/whoever wrote it was probably thinking about annoying war veterans or something.

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bored_dude_in_nj
03-14-2003

Rated 0 
i think this song is pretty good, its about a veteran and what he has to go trough after the war, he isnt appreciated, he is scared for life, its a sad song, at first i thougtht "what where they on when they wrote this song" but the more i listened to it the more i liked it

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DarkSideoftheWall
04-28-2003

Rated 0 
this song was written when roger was demoted to bassist, he knew as well as everone else about his musical genius and when he was demoted he felt like a forgotten veteran and he conveys that feeling through corporal clegg

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Libraquarius
10-15-2004

Rated 0 
Roger has, for most of his writing career, had a thing about losing his father in the war. This is the earliest one I've identified, and I grew weary when The Final Cut appeared.

I had a boring job in my late teens, looking after a large number of aircraft batteries which regularly came to me for maintenance. I named them all, using names from Floyd songs; when I ran out of them, I used entities from Bowie and Stones numbers, painting them in tiny letters on the ends of the cases.

I didn't use Corporal Clegg.

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ceruleancaterpillar
11-19-2004

Rated 0 
Corperal Clegg is a great example of ... ummm.. dark wartime imagery infused with fizzy british psychedelia. A fun-filled cavalcade of Roger Waters mayhem to be enjoyed by the whole family.

Poor old Mrs. Clegg. Another drop of gin, indeed.

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TheTrial
12-27-2004

Rated 0 
I get alot of shit for liking this song, but I do like it. I agree with what DarkSideoftheWall said. The kazoo solos remind me of a birthday party, although the song makes me sad.

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PinkFloydrulez
01-08-2005

Rated 0 
i like this song o.O


corporal cleeeegg

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dary
06-13-2005

Rated 0 
This song seems sorta happy at the begining but then there's the part "Dear oh dear oh will they really laugh at me?" and "Corporal Clegg received his medal in a dream" I think it's about a man going insane.At first is says about his wooden leg and medal and then that it was a dream. Of course this is just my opinion. This is what I think about when I listen to this song.

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Vannaroth
07-31-2005

Rated 0 
I love this song. I dont think we should go too much into its meaning, its just another psychedelic Floyd song, and its great :)

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Hippiedude
01-11-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with Vannaroth. It's just a nice psychedelic song =D Perhaps some meaning in it, not as much as their later works.

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werumm
02-25-2006

Rated 0 
Nice little song. It's not brilliant but you can't compare it to the dire Dog's of War. At least this has a bit of spunk and drive. Dogs or War was a droning mess.

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muphart
03-11-2006

Rated 0 
this song is awesome, if you dont like it try listening to it again. it's quick and painless and the kazoo puts me in a jolly mood

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Anderson_Council
03-13-2006

Rated 0 
I think that's one mean kazoo Gilmour plays.

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ikonyukon
05-26-2006

Rated 0 
the kazoos make this a totally awesome song... i agree it's about war veterans or for some reason, this makes me think of pirates... but oh well it's awesome.

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ummagumma
06-07-2006

Rated 0 
Well, my first take on this song was that this man, Corporal Clegg, was actually never in the war, but his mind has taken over, applying some sort of mental disorder. The lyrics state that he found his medal in the zoo applying that a simple object was translated into his mind as a medal. It also mentions Mrs. Clegg. I believe this lady is either his mother or wife, but most likely his mother. This shows that his lunacy is seen by her also as she may take some more to drink.

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thedanman344
07-03-2006

Rated 0 
Don't think too deeply on this one. What else does Syd write about? Nonsense. The good nonsense. It is funny as hell to me. This is an incredibly funny and simple song.

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Mahavishnu
07-31-2006

Rated 0 
Syd didn't write this song, and credit goes to Waters on the album.

"Was Corporal Clegg on Saucerful Of Secrets a deliberate Hendrix-style sound that you were going for?"

"No, not really. I didn't know what the hell I was trying to play at the time to be quite honest. I'd really no idea. What I was used to playing, the style I had, didn't fit Pink Floyd at the time, and I didn't really know quite what to do."

- David Gilmour - Sounds "Guitar Heroes" Magazine, May 1983

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IceageHeatwave
08-10-2006

Rated 0 
i can't believe the negative responses to this song! while a waters song it sounds like something syd barrett (RIP) would have written. the kazoo is annoying but the 'chorus' with "mrs. clegg.." is catchy; ok so it's missing some of the atmosphere of other SFOS songs but its disturbing theme but the lyrical theme is sound and the riffs capture the epitome of late 60's rock

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melloncollie45
08-18-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is about an old war vet that's kind of losing his mind. No one can really put up with him including his wife (Mrs Clegg, another drop of gin) and he basically exagerates everything from the war making himself out to be a hero (Won his medals in a dream) And the little kazoo orchestra is just kind of a characeteur of trumpets and military fanfare.

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inpraiseoffolly
09-07-2006

Rated 0 
The kazoo is the only reason I listen to this song.

Don't be hating on my kazoo homies.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

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Robo Graham
03-07-2007

Rated 0 
This song is awesome. Roger wrote it when thinking of his father who died in the war.

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Unsound
05-13-2007

Rated 0 
Actually, I believe that this song has a lot more meaning than their other psychedellic work (mostly because Waters is beginning to dominate his role as songwriter and realize his later style). This song, is the most jolly fashion, forebears Waters' later ominous, nihilistic and darkly sarcastic themes that appear most strongly throughout '77-'83.

Waters' sarcasm and disdain can be seem immediatly in the start of this song.
"Corporal Clegg had a wooden leg /
he won it in the war in nineteen forty four"
'Winning' a wooden leg in a war makes it all seem like a big game, furthered by the kazoo implementation.

While I somewhat agree with the insanity theory, I think Waters is just demonstrating the frivoulousness of medals and awards.
"Corporal Clegg had a medal too /
in orange and blue, he found it in the zoo"
"Corporal Clegg received his medal in a dream
from Her Majesty the Queen, his boots were very clean"
Clean boots obviously signify that Corporal Clegg actually did very little fighting, and was awarded this medal instead of the many whole truly lived through hell in WWII and received no recognition.

Now that I think about it, these last lines remind me a lot of Forest Gump... I'll let you compare than one yourself.
"Corporal Clegg, umbrella in the rain /
he's never been the same but no one is to blame "

All in all, this may be truly the first brick in the Wall.


Shine on and be careful with that axe

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brianw87
11-25-2007

Rated 0 
I'm pretty sure I've heard from numerous people that this is about a crazed war vet like most people said, but theres a lot more to be interpreted. He found it in the zoo means that he plays a KAzoo, most presumably one that was orange red and blue as they can be quite colorful. He has gone so mad from war that all his lunacy does is play that thing. You are supposed to believe that the kazoo playing between verses is corporal clegg. The lines about his wife are supposed to ask about her embarassment. Jokingly she is not proud of him at all and she must drink herself to the bottom of a bottle to hide her shame for her husband. I don't think he actually ever won a medal, he's just so shell shocked from war that he has gone mad.

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FaaipDeOaid
12-02-2007

Rated 0 
Wicked chorus. Best parts of the song.

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