"The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling" is a British airmen's song from World War I. It is apparently a parody of another popular song of the time entitled "She Only Answered 'Ting-a-ling-a-ling'". It is featured in the musical film Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). 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?" There are alternate, darker lyrics for the third and fourth lines, used in the original stage musical Oh, What a Lovely War!:
- And the little devils all sing-aling-aling
- For you but not for me
Read more about The Bells Of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling: 1966 Film, A Perfect Hero, Tequila Vampire Matinee, Salvation Army
Famous quotes containing the words bells and/or hell:
“For mankind, speech with a capital S is especially meaningful and committing, more than the content communicated. The outcry of the newborn and the sound of the bells are fraught with mystery more than the baby’s woeful face or the venerable tower.”
—Paul Goodman (1911–1972)
“O you singers solitary, singing by yourself, projecting me,
O solitary me listening, never more shall I cease perpetuating you
Never more shall I escape, never more the reverberations,
Never more the cries of unsatisfied love be absent from me,
Never again leave me to be the peaceful child I was before what
there in the night,
By the sea under the yellow and sagging moon,
The messenger there aroused, the fire, the sweet hell within,
The unknown want, the destiny of me.”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)