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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
I was listening to the Caisson Song. It's the song of the U. S. Army. And it was adapted by John Phillip Soussa:
Over hill, over dale
As we hit the dusty trail.
As the caissons go rolling along.
...
With a hi hi hee.
In the field artillery...
Wait a minute. What was that? "Hi hi hee?" A third-grader wrote those stupid lyrics (See addendum, below).
Addendum:
I received a couple of emails about this. "Hi hi hee" seem to be legitimate orders that you give to mules (who knew?). Soussa adapted the song for brass band. Apparently, Edmund Gruber wrote the original song, in the Phillipines, during World War I. Anyway, the Air Force song (Up We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder) and Navy song (Anchors Aweigh) are more interesting tunes.