The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling

"The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling" is a British airmen's song from World War I.[1]

It is apparently a parody of another popular song of the time entitled "She Only Answered 'Ting-a-ling-a-ling'".[2] It is featured in the Brendan Behan's play The Hostage (1958).[3]

Lyrics

The lyrics are:

The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me:
For me the angels sing-a-ling-a-ling,
They've got the goods for me.
Oh! Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling?
Oh! Grave, thy victory?
The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me.

Lines five and six quote St Paul's words on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15: 55, used in the burial service: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"[1] There are alternative, darker lyrics for the third and fourth lines, used in the original stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War!.[4]

And the little devils all sing-aling-aling
For you but not for me

The Behan version is:[3]

The Bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me:
Oh! Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling?
Oh! Grave, thy victory?
If you meet the undertaker,
Or the young man from the Pru,
Get a pint with what's left over,
Now I'll say good-bye to you.

1966 film

A 1966 Mirisch Productions World War I war film with the title The Bells of Hell go Ting-a-ling-a-ling starring Gregory Peck and Ian McKellen, directed by David Miller and with a screenplay by Roald Dahl, was abandoned after five weeks filming in Switzerland.[5] The film, depicting the air raid on the Zeppelin base at Friedrichshafen, was abandoned after early snow in the Alps.[6]

Salvation Army

The song also has links with the Salvation Army, as referenced in "The Mixer and Server, Volume 20" of 1911: "In London, the Salvation Army lassies and other street-praying bands are singing a song that has become universally popular in the crowded sections of the city."[7] It is notable that the lyrics of this Salvation Army version differ slightly both from the established "angels" version and the "devils" version in Oh, What a Lovely War!:

The bells of hell go ding-aling-ling
For you, but not for me;
The sweet-voiced angels sing-a-ling-ling
Through all eternity.
Oh, death, where is thy sting-a-ling-ling;
Oh, grave, thy victory!
No ding-a-ling-ling, no sting-a-ling-ling.
But sing-a-ling-ling for me.

It is parodied in "The Wonderful War," by Leslie Charteris, collected in Featuring the Saint (1941).[8]

It is the song for the end credits of the tv mini series "A Perfect Hero" (1991).[9]

References
  1. Tyler, Don (2016). Music of the First World War. ABC-CLIO. p. 22. ISBN 9781440839962.
  2. Max Arthur (2001) When This Bloody War Is Over. London, Piatkus: 63
  3. Mary Luckhurst, ed. (2006). A companion to modern British and Irish drama, 1880-2005. Malden, MA [etc.]: Blackwell. p. 252. ISBN 1405122285.
  4. "Bells of Hell". Lyrics from Oh what a lovely war. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  5. "The Bells of Hell Go Ding-a-ling-a-ling (1966) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  7. "Origins: The Bells of Hell Go Ting-A-Ling-A-Ling".
  8. Charteris, Leslie (1941). "The First Saint Omnibus". The Sun Dial Press. pp. 77–140..
  9. "A Perfect Hero (TV Mini Series 1991– ) - IMDb". IMDb..
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