Marching Orders

As far as what you'll have to do, we keep it very simple in the army

You take orders from those above you, you give orders to those below

(Sung)

The private has a corporal

And the corporal has a sarge

And so it goes on up the chain

From captain on through colonel

To the general in charge

Each man is lord of his domain

And every last enlisted man stands at salute

For the lowliest of officers and that's a Lieut

(Lieutenant Joseph W. Rizzеr

American

Expeditionary Forces Signal Corps)

And that's yours truly

That's your duly appointed

Newly anointed

Lеader of

The Bell Battalion Telephonic

Ladies' Switchboard Unit Number One

(Spoken)

There'll be thirty-three women: twenty-eight operators

Reporting to four supervisors reporting to one chief. That's you

(Sung)

The captain has his company

The corporal has his squad

And each man knows just where he stands

The colonel rules his regiment

And Pershing is our god

So we all hop to his commands

And when the general's on the phone

And finds it slow to call

And when he doesn't give a fig for army protocol

And wants to let some women in

To throw it all in disarray

I say okay

And I obey

I go and find the men some females right away

'Cause orders aren't suggestions

No matter how misguided

A soldier never questions

What his higher-ups decided must be done

Even when it's setting up and heading up

A ladies' switchboard unit number one

Sure, they tell me this is something I'll adapt to

Treat the ladies like the boys

How's a fella s'posed to snarl and holler "Snap to!"

At the type that he was taught to tip his cap to?

How can someone be direct in all his dealings

Lordin' it over subordinates like these?

God forbid that I offend their tender feelings

And what if that young underling I roared for

Is the kind that I'm inclined to hold the door for?

It's a quandary, a conundrum

It's like marching to the beat of more than one drum

But that's fine

I toe the line

I know that everyone's got marching orders

Lord knows I've got mine

And mine is not to reason why

Mine is but to do and die

Whenever I run into friends from the academy

Who wanna know what outfit do I run

It's the Bell Battalion Telephonic

I don't wanna bore you with the title

The Bell Battalion Telephonic

Pershing considers it vital!

It's the Bell Battalion Telephonic

La— wait

Ladies' Switchboard Unit Number One

(Spoken)

Company, halt!