Corporal Clegg

"Corporal Clegg" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). It was written by Roger Waters and features David Gilmour on guitar and vocals, with a rare appearance on vocal by drummer Nick Mason providing the lines "He won it in the war... ", "In orange red and blue... ", "He's never been the same... ", and "From her majesty the queen... ". The song also features a kazoo.

The song is about a soldier who lost his leg in World War II, and his apparently alcoholic wife or mother (the ironic lyric is: "Mrs Clegg, you must be proud of him… another drop of gin?"). It is the first mention of war in a Pink Floyd song, something that would become a common theme in Roger Waters' lyrics, Roger having lost his father thus in 1944. This can be seen as rather lighter in tone than the Floyd's later tackling of the subject, though, despite the heavy irony (Clegg "won" his wooden leg in the war) and darkness behind the lyrics; indeed, among the cacophony of voices towards the end we hear an officer telling his one-legged man: "Clegg! Been meaning to speak to you. About that leg of yours! You're excused parade from now on!" and members of the band actually corpsing in the chorus.

Although the song was never performed live, two videos of the song exists. The first one was shot on 19 or 20 February 1968 for Belgian RTB TV and features the band miming to a work-in-progress version of the song with a different ending^[1]. The second one was shot on 22 July 1969 for the West German SDR TV and broadcast on 21 September that year^[2]. The video takes place in a room with a dining table covered with exquisite food, and all four band members, wearing helmets, officer's caps and trench coats, are there enjoying the food. An accidental spillage of wine triggers a full scale food fight, resulting in the room getting completely trashed and all four band members covered in food, whilst the Dove of Peace (an actual white dove) is caught in the "crossfire". Interspersed throughout the video is footage of war and the band performing the song.

Personnel

• David Gilmour - Guitar, Vocals
• Richard Wright - Keyboards & backing vocals
• Roger Waters - Bass
• Nick Mason - Drums, Percussion & Vocals

Cover version

• A cover of "Corporal Clegg" by Samarin, Morgan & Hull LLP appears on 2003 Pink Floyd tribute album A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd. This cover features guitar and vocals from Paul Samarin, the lead singer and bass player of Los Angeles based Pink Floyd tribute band Which One's Pink?

References

This 1960s rock song-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.