Bruces' Philosophers Song
"Bruces' Philosophers Song", also known as "The Bruces' Song", is a Monty Python song written and composed by Eric Idle that was a feature of the group's stage appearances and its recordings.
Origins
The Bruces' Philosophers Song is sung by The Bruces, stereotypical "ocker" Australians of the period. The Bruces are kitted out in khakis, slouch hats and a cork hat, and are faculty members of the Philosophy Department at the fictional University of Woolamaloo.The Bruces themselves first appeared in the Bruces sketch which featured in episode 22, "How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body", of the TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus, first broadcast on 24 November 1970. The sketch shows an English academic coming to a hot and perhaps remote part of Australia and being inducted by the Bruces into their Philosophy Department, seemingly located in a simple wooden shack. The Bruces are lounging around a wooden table and soon start drinking cans of Foster's Lager.
The song was not part of the TV sketch; it first appeared on the Monty Python's 1973 album Matching Tie and Handkerchief as a coda for the album version of the sketch. The song was subsequently included in most of the Monty Python team's live shows, sometimes as a singalong with musical accompaniment provided by a Jew's harp.
Lyrics
The song's lyrics make a series of scandalous allegations about a number of highly respected philosophers, usually with regard to their capacity or incapacity for imbibing alcoholic drinks.The sixth line differs from version to version. While the studio recording on Matching Tie and Handkerchief refers solely to "Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel", live recordings mention "Schopenhauer and Hegel."
The philosophers
All the philosophers whom the song mentions were dead by the time it appeared, apart from Martin Heidegger.Philosophers mentioned in the song :