Old soldiers never die explained

"Old soldiers never die" is an English language catchphrase, with the full version being "Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away". It originates from a stanza from the soldiers' folklore song Old Soldiers Never Die:

Old soldiers never die,

Never die, never die,

Old soldiers never die,

They simply fade away.^[1]

The song itself is a British Army's parody of the gospel song Kind Thoughts Can Never Die.^[2]

In the United States, the phrase was used by General Douglas MacArthur in his April 19, 1951 farewell address to the U.S. Congress (which has become known as the "Old Soldiers Never Die" speech):^{[3] [4]}

The phrase generated a host of joke snowclones, such as:^{[5] [6]}

• Old programmers never die, they just branch to a new address
• Old policemen never die, they just cop out
• Old pilots never die, they just go to a higher plane.
• Old fishermen never die, they just smell that way.

In a 1980 interview with Barbara Walters on ABC's program 20/20, former president Richard Nixon paraphrased MacArthur and the catchphrase for himself by saying "Old politicians usually die, but they never fade away."^[7]

In Sting's 2016 album 57th & 9th, the second single, "50,000", contains the line of verse "Rock stars don't ever die, they only fade away" as a tribute to Prince, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, and Lemmy Kilmister.^[8]

The song was recorded by Bing Crosby during a broadcast of his radio show in 1951 and later released on Decca Records.

Notes and References

1. Soldiers’ Songs and Slang of the Great War, collected by Martin Pegler,, p. 123; an update of John Brophy and Eric Partridge's Songs and Slang of the British Soldier (1930)
2. Book: A dictionary of catch phrases: British and American, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Partridge, Eric. 1985. Routledge & Kegan Paul. Beale, Paul.. 0203379950. 2nd.. London. 57445962.
3. https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/DouglasMacArthur.pdf ""Old Soldiers Never Die" (Farewell Address to Congress)--General Douglas MacArthur (April 19, 1951) "
4. http://www.emersonkent.com/speeches/old_soldiers_never_die.htm "Old Soldiers Never Die"
5. Web site: Stanford . Chris . James Comey, Prince, 'Westworld': Your Friday Briefing . The New York Times . 1 March 2020 . 20 April 2018 . Little did that five-star American general know that he had just given rise to an army of so-called snowclones, a relatively new linguistic phenomenon that’s tougher to explain than it is to use..
6. Lucy Blackman, Have You Heard the One About: Aging, 2005,
7. ABC home video: Dark Days at the White House: The Watergate Scandal and the Resignation of President Richard M. Nixon
8. Web site: Sting Reopens Bataclan With 'Fragile,' Tribute to David Bowie and Prince. 2020-09-09. www.hollywoodreporter.com. 12 November 2016 .