Could You Please Oblige Us with a Bren Gun?

"Could You Please Oblige Us with a Bren Gun?" is a humorous song written and composed by Noël Coward in 1941.^[1]

Like much of Coward's work it displays skill at wordplay and evokes a feeling of both good humour and patriotic pride. The song pokes fun at the disorder and shortages of equipment, supplies and effective leadership that the Home Guard experienced during the Second World War.

Coward was often the best interpreter of his own work, and his recording of this song is no exception. It is available on several compilation albums and box sets of Coward's songs. Graham Payn, Coward's longtime companion and literary executor, said that the song could have been used as a theme song for the British television series Dad's Army which found humour in the same subject: the exploits of the Home Guard. Indeed, the song was later featured in the West End stage show of the television programme.

References