Corporal Clegg

"Corporal Clegg" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd, and is featured on their second album, A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). It was written by Roger Waters and features David Gilmour on guitar and vocals, with a rare appearance on vocal by drummer Nick Mason providing the lines "He won it in the war... ", "In orange red and blue... ", "He's never been the same... ", and "From her majesty the queen... " lyrics. The song also features kazoo, the inventor of which was named Thaddeus von Clegg, which is perhaps why they chose to name the title character Clegg.

The song is about a soldier who lost his leg in World War II, and his apparently alcoholic wife or mother (the ironic lyric is: "Mrs Clegg, you must be proud of him… another drop of gin?"). It is the first mention of war in a Pink Floyd song, something that would become a common theme in Roger Waters' lyrics, Roger having lost his father thus in 1944. This can be seen as rather lighter in tone than the Floyd's later tackling of the subject, though, despite the heavy irony (Clegg "won" his wooden leg in the war!) and darkness behind the lyrics; indeed, among the cacophony of voices towards the end we hear an officer telling his one-legged man: "Clegg! Been meaning to speak to you. About that leg of yours! You're excused parade from now on!" and members of the band actually corpsing in the chorus.

[edit] Personnel

David Gilmour - Guitar, Vocals
Richard Wright - Keyboards & Vocals
Roger Waters - Bass & Vocals
Nick Mason - Drums, Percussion & vocals

[edit] Cover version

A cover of Corporal Clegg by Samarin, Morgan & Hull LLP appears on 2003 Pink Floyd tribute album A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd. This cover features guitar and vocals from Paul Samarin, the lead singer and bass player of Los Angeles based Pink Floyd tribute band Which One's Pink?