A drill sergeant drills recruits in the U.S. Army.

In the armed services, a jody call (in the United States) (also known as a cadence call elsewhere) is a chant that is sung by military personnel while running or marching. Requiring no instruments to play, they are counterparts in oral military folklore of the military march. A drill sergeant with rows of recruits. ... A drill sergeant drills recruits in the U.S. Army. ... A military or military force (n. ... Look up Cadence in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Cadence has the following meanings. ... The Stars and Stripes Forever, considered the most famous march in the world // History The true march music era existed from 1850 to 1940s as it slowly became shadowed by the coming of jazz. ...

History

The word "cadence" was applied to these chants because of an earlier meaning, in which it meant the number of steps a marcher or runner took per minute. The cadence was set by a drummer or sergeant, and discipline was extremely important as keeping the cadence directly affected the travel speed of infantry. There were other purposes: the close-order drill was a particular cadence count for the complex sequence of loading and firing a musket. In the Revolutionary War, Baron von Steuben notably imported European battlefield techniques which persist, greatly modified, to this day. Cadences also instill teamwork and camaraderie. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... Baron von Steuben Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus Steuben, Baron von Steuben (November 15, 1730-November 28, 1794) was a German army officer who served with George Washington in the American Revolutionary War and is credited with teaching American troops the essentials of military drill and discipline. ...

Oral tradition credits the origin of the modern cadence tradition within the United States Army to Private Willie Duckworth; according to this story, in May of 1944, while returning to base with his exhausted unit, he began singing or chanting the first cadence, "Sound Off:" US Army Seal HHC, US Army Distinctive Unit Insignia The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Sound-off; 1 - 2; Sound-off; 3 - 4; Count cadence; 1 - 2 - 3 - 4; 1 - 2 — 3 - 4.

This cadence, known as the "Duckworth Chant," exists with some variations in many different branches of the U.S. military. Duckworth's simple chant soon was elaborated by folk tradition among drill sergeants and the soldiers under their command, and the tradition of creating elaborate marching chants or songs spread to other branches of the military. A drill sergeant drills recruits in the U.S. Army. ...

As soon as 1952, the U.S. Army adopted The Army Goes Rolling Along as its service theme song, with the lyric "count off the cadence loud and strong" a reference to Duckworth's cadence. Its melody and lyrics derive from the traditional When the Caissons Go Rolling Along. 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The song was originally written by field artillery First Lieutenant (later Brigadier General) Edmund L. Gruber, while stationed in the Philippines in 1908 as the Caisson Song. ... The theme music of a radio or television program is a melody closely associated with the show, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits. ... In military context, caisson is a carrier of artillery ammunition. ...

A common United States Marine Corps cadence goes: United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the U.S. military. ...

Way back when at the dawn of time.

In the heart of death valley where the sun don't shine.

The roughest toughest fighter ever known was made.

From an M-16 and a live grenade.

He was a lean mean green fighting machine.

He proudly bore the title of US Marine.

Police personnel who train in para-military fashion also have acquired the tradition for its recruits in the police academy. However, the "lyrics" are changed for law enforcement. Such as; Police Academy was a series of comedy films made in the 1980s and early 1990s. ...

A six gun a tin star a horse named blue. In 1890 a cop held these true

In 1930 the Thompson Gun. It made police work a lot more fun.

A big block Dodge Polara Pursuit. In 1960 it came out of the chute.

We got night vision on our MP5. These are the tools that keep US alive. The MP5 is a submachine gun, developed by German weapons designer Heckler und Koch (HK) in the 1960s. ...

In 20 years who knows what it will be. Phaser guns mounted on my HumVee.

From a horse named blue to a big HumVee We'ill still PT in the Academy! (Last line yelled)

"Jody calls"

The songs get the name jody call or jody (also, jodie) from a recurring character, a civilian named "Jody" whose luxurious lifestyle is contrasted with military deprivations in a number of traditional calls. Jody is the person who stays at home, drives the soldier's car, and gets the soldier's sweetheart while the soldier is in recruit training or in country. (Serendipitously, the name works just as well for female soldiers.) A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a TV series, who is not a main character, but appears from time to time during the series run. ... A civilian is a person who is not a member of a military. ... U.S. Army recruits learn about bayonet fighting skills in an infantry Basic Combat Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. ... Military slang, or informal military terms, are colloquial terms used commonly by military personnel —often as abbreviations or derivations of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, or otherwise incorporating aspects of formal military concepts and terms. ...

Common themes in jodies include:

• homesickness
• quotidian complaints about military life
• boasts (of one's own unit) and insults (of one's competitor, which may be another unit, another service branch, or the enemy)
• humorous and topical references.

One example used in the army:

My honey heard me comin on my left right on left

I saw Jody runnin on his left right on left

I chased after Jody and I ran him down

Poor ole boy doesn't feel good now

M.P.s came a runnin on there left right on left

The medics came a runnin on there left right on left

He felt a little better with a few I.V.s

Son I told you not to mess with them ELEVEN Bs

Obscene, scatological, and offensively violent jody calls exist; their official use in formal training is now discouraged by the U.S. military, with an emphasis on "clean" versions of traditional jodies. The flexibility of jodies is nearly unlimited, and old jodies have always been retired or rewritten as times and wars change. Obscenity has several connotations. ... Scatology, or coprology, in medicine, biology and paleontology, is the study of feces. ... War is a state of widespread conflict between states, organisations, or relatively large groups of people, which is characterised by the use of lethal violence between combatants or upon civilians. ...

Jody calls are a subset of work songs, and share in their rhythmic properties. Most jody calls have a call and response structure; one soldier initiates a line, and the remaining soldiers complete it. A work song is a typically acoustic rhythmic song sung by persons who are working in likely mundane conditions. ... Rhythm (Greek ρυθμός = tempo) is the variation of the duration of sounds or other events over time. ... In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first. ...

External link

• The Cadence Page compiles military cadences.
• more background on the Duckworth cadence