Cheap Charlie

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Background:
This song became famous among Australians in South Vietnam. There is hardly an Aussie who served there that did not know it, but these days most only remember the first verse.

It is sung to the tune of “The Children’s Marching Song” (From the film, ‘The Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ – 1958 starring Ingrid Bergmann as the English missionary, Gladys Aylward and Curt Jurgens as Eurasian Colonel Lin) and is based on the traditional Nursery Rhyme Nick Nack Paddy Wack (which are sound words with no actual meaning) the was originally adapted by Malcolm Arnold for the Mitch Miller Orchestra.

An introduction to a few basic meanings of some of the words is necessary to enjoy the sardonic humour of the piece.