i used to be a civvie chap, as decent ascould be;
i used to be a civvie chap, as decent ascould be;
 I used to think a workin lad had a man's right to be free;
 but first they came and then they made a soldier out of me and told me it wasall to save democracy.
chorus
and I was browned off, browned off, browned off as can be browned off, browned off, an easy fool that's me.
 but when this war is over and once more I'm free;
 there' ll be no more trips around the world for me
they put me in a convict suit, they made me cut me hair;
 they took away me civvie shoes, gave me another pair.
 instead of food they gave us slush and plenty of fresh air- and said it was all to save democracy.
now every day I'm on parade long before the dawn;
 and every day I curse the bloody day that I was born.
 but I'm just a browned off soldier that anyone can see;
 they browned me off to help them save democracy.
now, the colonel kicks the captain, then the captain has a go;
 the captain kicks the sergeant, who kicks other nco' s;
 and as the kicks get harder the poor private you can see;
 gets kicked to bloody hell to save democracy.
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i recorded this song from the singing of simon campell, a folk singer and poet of sydney, nsw, formerly of kuranda, qld, and from darky edwards, digger, of woodbridge, qld, who sang it during the korean war and in vietnam, and learned it from wwii vets.
this song was written by iww pres joe hill after he sat down with a us sailor after the spanish-american war, and during the philippine insurrection.
 by wwi, the song had been taken over by the australian army, and the tune altered to the form used in this collection.
 in the folk circles of america it is still sung to joe hill's tune and lyrics.
 this song is still popular when sung to currently serving diggers, male and female!