Beer Barrel Polka

In 1927, the music for the polka was composed by the Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-13 |title='Roll Out the Barrel' composer Jaromír Vejvoda |url=https://english.radio.cz/roll-out-barrel-composer-jaromir-vejvoda-8298847 |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Radio Prague International |language=en}}{{cite book |last=Greene |first=Victor R. |title=A Passion for Polka: Old-Time Ethnic Music in America |publisher=University of California Press |year=1992 |isbn=9780520075849 |oclc=25246359}}{{rp|page=131}} Eduard Ingriš wrote the first arrangement of the piece, after Vejvoda came up with the melody and sought Ingriš's help in refining it. At that time, it was played without lyrics as {{langx|cs|"Modřanská polka"|label=none|italics=no}} ({{langx|en|"Polka of Modřany"}}).{{cite web |url=https://saskatoonsymphony.org/roll-out-the-barrell-the-beer-barrel-polka/ |title=Roll out the Barrell — the Beer Barrel Polka |work=Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra |year=2012 |access-date=2024-06-10}}

In 1934, the first text for the polka was written by Vašek Zeman – with the title {{langx|cs|"Škoda lásky"|italics=no|label=none|}}({{langx|en|"Unrequited Love"}}{{efn|The Czech title has been translated into English in slightly different ways by various sources, but all capture the same basic meaning. For example, #{{sfnref says "Unrequited Love", #{{sfnref says "Wasted Love," and #{{sfnref says "Lost Love"}}){{r|greene|page=131}}{{cite web |url=https://temperanceblues.web.illinois.edu/beer-barrel-polka/ |title=Beer Barrel Polka |work=Singing the Temperance Blues |date=2021-03-16 |first=Nolan |last=Vallier}} Around that same time, Shapiro Bernstein acquired the rights to the song and English lyrics were written by Lew Brown and Wladimir Timm. Zeman's original Czech lyrics framed the polka as a love song, whereas Brown and Timm's English version framed it as a song celebrating the repeal of Prohibition in the United States. At first the English version of the song was relatively unknown and unpopular, but it gained a great deal of popularity after The Andrews Sisters recorded it in 1939.{{r|greene|pages=131-33}}. Subsequently, many other artists released versions, including the Glenn Miller Orchestra; Benny Goodman; Bobby Vinton;{{r|aus|page=330}} Billie Holiday; John Serry Sr (RCA Thesaurus, 1954)[https://www.esm.rochester.edu/sibley/files/John-J-Serry-Sr-Collection.pdf Eastman School of Music - University of Rochester - Sibley Music Library: John J. Serry Sr. Collection "John Serry Sextette" Audio recording for RCA Thesaurus of arrangements and performances by John Serry at the RCA Victor Studios in 1954 p. 18-19 The John J. Serry Sr. Collection archived at the University of Rochester] and Joe Patek, who sold over a million copies of his album "Beer Barrel Polka".{{cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpa99 |title=Patek, Joseph {{!}} The Handbook of Texas Online |work=Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) |access-date=2016-10-10}}

The polka soon became famous around the world. In 1939 Will Glahé recorded an instrumental version that was a big hit in the United States, being ranked #3 by the radio program Your Hit Parade in June of that year.{{r|greene|page=132}}.{{cite book |title=The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music |editor=Colin Larkin |year=1992 |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |edition=1st |volume=2}}{{rp|page=1662}} The June 17, 1939 edition of Billboard magazine noted that "Beer Barrel Polka" was the 12th most popular song by radio plays on New York City radio stations WJZ, WEAF and WABC. Daniel Richman wrote "There's hardly a {{bracket|jukebox}} machine from Maine to California that still isn't inviting patrons to roll out the barrel, and from all indications it will probably be another couple of weeks before the 'roll out' can be changed to 'throw out.'"{{cite magazine |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/30s/1939/Billboard-1939-06-17.pdf |via=World Radio History |title=Songs With Most Radio Plugs / Record Buying Guide |first=Daniel |last=Richman |magazine=Billboard |date=1939-06-17}}{{rp|pages=13,76}}

During World War II, versions in many other languages were created and the song was popular among soldiers, regardless of their allegiances.{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/archive/6791983/music-peripatetic-polka/ |title=Music: Peripatetic Polka |magazine=TIME |date=1945-09-17 |access-date=2024-06-10}} Italian writer Primo Levi wrote that when he was deported to Auschwitz, the camp's orchestra was playing {{langx|de|Rosamunda|label=none}}, the German version of "Beer Barrel Polka," as he arrived.{{cite web |url=https://katrinashawver.com/2020/06/polish-composers-at-auschwitz.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812153319/https://katrinashawver.com/2020/06/polish-composers-at-auschwitz.html |archive-date=2020-08-12 |date=2020-06-12 |first=Kristina |last=Shawver |title=Polish Composers And Music At Auschwitz |access-date=2024-06-10}} According to TIME magazine, when the first Australian contingent of troops arrived in England, they were singing the polka.{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/archive/6762499/western-theatre-solidarity/ |title=Western Theatre: Solidarity |magazine=TIME |date=1940-01-08 |access-date=2024-06-10}} On VE Day — May 8 or 9, 1945 — Humphrey Lyttelton played it standing on a handcart outside Buckingham Palace, a performance that could be heard in the BBC broadcast from the victory celebrations.{{cite book|last=Gardiner |first=Juliet |title=Wartime: Britain 1939-1945 |year=2005 |publisher=Headline Book Publishing |isbn=9780755310289}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/humphrey-lyttelton-obituary-815832.html |title=Humphrey Lyttelton: Obituary |newspaper=The Independent |date=25 April 2008 |access-date=2018-07-30}}

It was claimed many times that the song was written in the country where it had just become a hit. TIME wrote that "Germans insisted it was an old Bavarian drinking song. Americans and British thought it was one of their own. Anyhow, they all sang it." Its actual composer was not widely known until after the war.

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• {{langx|eu|Gora ta gora beti}}
• {{langx|ca|La polca de la cervesa}}
• {{lang-zh|啤酒桶波尔卡/啤酒桶波爾卡}}
• {{langx|hr|Rozamunda}}
• {{langx|cs|Škoda lásky}}
• {{langx|da|Hvor er min Kone}}
• {{langx|nl|Rosamunde (also Rats, kuch en bonen)|italic=invert}}
• {{langx|fi|Tonttujen joulupolkka, Böömiläinen polkka}}
• {{langx|fr|Frida oum Papa}}
• {{langx|el|Ροζαμούντα}}
• {{langx|de|Rosamunde}}
• {{langx|hu|Sej-haj Rozi}}
• {{langx|it|Rosamunda}}
• {{langx|ja|ビヤ樽ポルカ, ビア樽ポルカ}}
• {{langx|lv|Rozamunde}}
• {{langx|no|Hvor er min kone}}
• {{langx|pl|Banda or My młodzi, my młodzi, nam bimber nie zaszkodzi... or Szkoda miłości|italic=invert}}
• {{langx|pt|Barril de chope}}
• {{langx|ru|Розамунда}}
• {{langx|es|Polka del Barril, el Barrilito, Polca de la Cerveza or Barrilito de Cerveza|italic=invert}}
• {{langx|sv|Ut i naturen}}
• {{langx|uk|Не вернуться роки мої молоді}}

}}

• Bobby Vinton recorded "Beer Barrel Polka" in 1975. The song was released as the follow-up single to his multi-million selling "My Melody of Love" and reached number 33 on the Billboard, number 45 on the Cashbox Top 40 hit charts and number 51 in Australia.{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}{{rp|page=330}} The success of the single, which was particularly popular on jukeboxes, led to its inclusion on Vinton's Heart of Hearts album in 1975.
• The song became a signature song of well-known entertainer Liberace,{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/curtain-falls-on-the-liberace-show-20101014-16lp1.html |title=Curtain falls on the Liberace show |date=2010-10-15 |first=Keith |last=Austin |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url-access=limited |access-date=2024-06-10}}{{cite news |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/sdut-liberace-hologram-show-is-las-vegas-bound-2014dec18-htmlstory.html |title=Liberace hologram show is Las Vegas-bound |date=2014-12-18 |first=George |last=Varga |work=San Diego Tribune |access-date=2024-06-10}} and he played it on an episode of his eponymous television show.{{cite AV media |author=Liberace Girl |via=Youtube |date=2017-05-28 |title=Liberace's TV-Show: Liberace plays the "Beer Barrel Polka" (1950s) |access-date=2024-06-10 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CDTxCIyaCw}}
• Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra made their own composition of "Beer Barrel Polka".{{cite news |url=https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/passaic/clifton/2023/08/03/18-time-grammy-winner-jimmy-sturr-and-his-orchestra-to-perform-in-clifton-and-passaic-for-free/70500432007/ |title=This 18-time Grammy winner will perform in Clifton and Passaic for free |quote=His songs include 'Beer Barrel Polka' [...] and many more |first=Matt |last=Fagan |work=northjersey.com |publisher=USA Today |access-date=2024-06-10 |date=2023-08-03}}
• The song is a standard for the accordion rock band Those Darn Accordions,{{cite news |url=https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/the-cotati-accordion-festival-and-those-darn-accordions-a-mutual-history/ |title=The Cotati Accordion Festival and Those Darn Accordions: A mutual history |work=Sonoma County Gazette |first=Marilyn |last=Lane |date=2023-08-08 |access-date=2024-06-10}} who released a studio version in 1992 on their album Vongole Fisarmonica.{{cite web |url=http://www.thosedarnaccordions.com/vongolefisarmonica.php |title=Vongole Fisarmonica |work=Those Darn Accordions |access-date=2024-06-10}}
• John Serry Sr. arranged and recorded the polka for accordion and ensemble for RCA Thesaurus (1954).{{cite web |url=https://www.esm.rochester.edu/sibley/files/John-J-Serry-Sr-Collection.pdf |title=John J. Serry, Sr., Collection |author=Sibley Music Library |publisher=Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester |access-date=2024-06-10 |date=Spring 2023}}
• The theme was interpreted in Spanish over the years by various artists such as Manolita Arriola{{cite web |url=https://www.ipscuba.net/archivo-espacios/nuestra-america/memoria/voces-mexicanas-triunfan-en-la-habana-entre-1938-y-1958/ |title=Voces mexicanas triunfan en la Habana entre 1938 y 1958 |date=2014-12-28 |language=es |access-date=2024-06-10 |trans-title=Mexican Voices Triumph in Havana between 1938 and 1958 |first=Lupe |last=Véliz |work=Inter Press Service en Cuba}} from Mexico, Elsa Valladares from Cuba, Gildardo Montoya and El Grupo Venezuela, Los Hermanos Corrales from Colombia,{{cite web |url=http://sayco.org/images/documentos/PI_3er_Trimestre_2022.pdf |title=Listado de Obras Pendientes for Identificar (PI) - Tercer Trimestre 2022 |work={{ill|Organización Sayco Acinpro|es|lt=Society of Authors and Composers of Colombia}} |language=es |trans-title=List of Pending Works to Identify (PI) - Third Quarter 2022}} the group "Los Mismos" from Spain, Anteojito from Argentina, among others.

• Since the 1970s, it has been played during the seventh inning stretch at Milwaukee Brewers baseball games,{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/blog/music/post/_/id/2646/stadium-songs-milwaukee-brewers |title=Stadium Songs: Milwaukee Brewers |first=Andrew |last=Pentis |date=2012-08-17 |access-date=2024-06-10 |work=ESPN |publisher=The Walt Disney Company}} as well as becoming one of the state of Wisconsin's unofficial state songs as it is also played at numerous University of Wisconsin sporting events, as well as Green Bay Packers home games.{{cite web |url=https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/fans/2019/12/06/packers-polka-tradition-how-lambeau-fields-roll-out-barrel-became-barrel-fun/4240967002/ |title=Rolling out the barrel at Lambeau is a Packers polka tradition with a history of famous faces |date=2019-12-06 |work=Green Bay Press Gazette |publisher=USA Today |first=Kendra |last=Meinert}}{{cite web |url=https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/fans/2014/12/06/lambeau-field-comes-alive-packers-game-day/19974327/ |title=How Lambeau comes alive on Packers game day |date=2014-12-06 |work=Green Bay Press Gazette |publisher=USA Today |first=Kendra |last=Meinert}}
• The 2016 Premiership winning Australian National Rugby League club Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks' theme song, Up Up Cronulla, uses the tune of Beer Barrel Polka.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}
• At San Jose Giants home games, a batter from the opposing team is designated the "beer batter." If the San Jose pitcher strikes out that batter, beer is half price in the beer only lines for the 15 minutes immediately following the strike out.{{cite web |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/visit-excite-ballpark-home-of-the-san-jose-giants |title=Visit San Jose's Excite Ballpark |date=2021-11-30 |access-date=2024-06-10 |first=Josh |last=Jackson |work=Major League Baseball (MLB)}} The PA system plays "Beer Barrel Polka" whenever the beer batter comes to the plate and after every strike during the beer batter's at-bat.{{cite web |url=http://paulsballparks.com/category/current-major-league-affiliation/san-francisco-giants-affiliates/ |title=Municipal Stadium, San Jose, California |date=2009-07-06 |access-date=2024-06-10 |author=Paul |work=Paul's Ballparks}}
• Pro wrestler Crusher Lisowski used the song as his entrance music,{{cite book |title=Pro Wrestling FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Most Entertaining Spectacle |first=Brian |last=Solomon |year=2000 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781617136283}}{{page needed|date=June 2024}} and would often growl out a few bars of it during interviews.{{cite web |url=https://www.bradycarlson.com/a-statue-of-da-crusher-south-milwaukee-wi/ |title=A Statue Of Da Crusher: South Milwaukee, WI |first=Brady |last=Carlson |date=2019-06-10 |access-date=2024-06-11}}
• The German football club Bayern München use the tune of {{langx|de|"Rosamunde"|italic=no|label=none}} for their song FC Bayern, lala lalala lala.{{cite web |url=https://suedkurve-muenchen.org/lieder/ |work=Südkurve München |title=Lieder |language=de |trans-title=Songs}}

• Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers plays a variation of this song in the 1939 movie At the Circus and later reprised it in 1946’s A Night in Casablanca.{{cite journal |title=Škoda lásky ou le fabuleux destin d'une petite polka tchèque |trans-title=Škoda lásky or the fabulous destiny of a little Czech polka |language=fr |first=Marie-Odile |last=Thirouin |journal=Faire l'Europe par la culture / Europäisierung durch Kultur |year=2021 |pages=129–172}}{{rp|page=148}}
• An instrumental version is featured in the 1941 film Meet John Doe.{{rp|page=145}}
• In the 1946 film The Captive Heart, a group of British POWs in a German camp sing the Beer Barrel Polka to drown out the sound of a German propaganda song that their captors are playing over the loudspeakers.
• In the 1967 film Late August at the Hotel Ozone a 78 rpm record of the polka is the last surviving piece of music.
• In Carl Davis's 1990 score for 1916 epic silent drama Intolerance, Davis incorporates the Beer Barrel Polka at the "Strike" scene at 17:33,{{Cite web|title=Intolerance {{!}} Kanopy|url=https://www.kanopy.com/product/intolerance|access-date=2021-10-06|website=www.kanopy.com}}{{Citation|title=Carl Davis / The Luxemburg Radio Symphony Orchestra – Intolerance (Original Film Score) (1990, CD)|date=1990 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/3654036-Carl-Davis-5-The-Luxemburg-Radio-Symphony-Orchestra-Intolerance-Original-Film-Score|language=en|access-date=2021-10-06}} despite the scene taking place in 1916, a decade before the song was written.

• It was sung in the final scene of the Rumpole of the Bailey television episode, "Rumpole and the Alternative Society" (1977).{{cite episode |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/rumpole-and-the-alternate-society-ywjfnd/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-06-11 |orig-date=1977 |date=2022-10-10 |title=Rumpole and the Alternate Society |series=Rumpole of the Bailey |number=2 |station=KSPS |network=PBS}}
• In M*A*S*H season 10 episode 2 ("That's Show Biz, Part 2"), Eleanor Carlyle plays the song on piano at officers' club in after she says that "Even Dvorak and Brahms wrote folk dances" to Major Winchester.{{cite episode |series=M*A*S*H |title=That's Show Biz, Part 2 |season=10 |number=2 |network=CBS |date=1981-10-26 |first1=David |last1=Pollock |first2=Elias |last2=Davis |first3=Dennis |last3=Koenig |time=11:10-11:32 |time-caption=Relevant scene from}}
• In the Frasier episode, "Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name," Frasier Crane and his new friends sing "Roll Out the Barrel" in a British-style pub as a frustrated, and bewildered Daphne Moon looks on.{{cite episode |series=Frasier |title=Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name |season=5 |number=10 |network=CBS |date=1998-01-06 |first=Rob |last=Hanning |time=8:48-9:40 |time-caption=Relevant scene from}}

{{reflist}}

{{notelist}}

• {{cite web|url=http://ingeb.org/Lieder/rosamund.mid |title=MP3 file audio : part 1 |website=Ingeb.org |access-date=2016-10-10}}
• {{cite web|url=http://ingeb.org/Lieder/rosamun2.mid |title=MP3 file audio : part 2 |website=Ingeb.org |access-date=2016-10-10}}
• {{cite web|url=http://ingeb.org/Lieder/rosamun3.mid |title=MP3 file audio : part 3 |website=Ingeb.org |access-date=2016-10-10}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qjh2QlkQ_E Vlasta Krsek performs the song on The Tonight Show in 1985]

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Category:1939 singles

Category:Polkas

Category:Czech songs

Category:Bobby Vinton songs

Category:Milwaukee Brewers

Category:Benny Goodman songs

Category:1975 singles

Category:Songs about beer

Category:Songs of World War II

Category:1927 songs

Category:Songs with lyrics by Lew Brown