Gory or Glory?
Here's another interesting wrinkle.
Depending on the version you've heard, you may hear the opening of the chorus as either “Gory, gory” or “Glory, glory.”
The confusion makes sense because the melody comes from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” whose famous chorus begins with “Glory, glory, hallelujah.”
But in the context of this song, “Gory” makes considerably more sense.
After all, this isn't exactly a song about heavenly glory.
It's about what happens when a parachute jump goes horribly, horribly wrong.
The “Gory” version is also an obvious dark-humor transformation of the original “Glory” refrain. (Wikipedia)
And honestly, if you've heard the song performed by a group of soldiers shouting it at full volume, trying to determine whether they're singing “glory” or “gory” can become an adventure in itself.
