What the heck is tararrel?

One of the traditions at Lambeau Field is the mass sing-along of “The Beer Barrel Polka” in the second half — 78,000 people screaming “Zing boom tararrel, ring out a song of good cheer,” and nobody knowing what they’re singing! What the heck is tararrel? “The Beer Barrel Polka,” sometimes called “Roll out the Barrel,” has been around almost exactly as long as I have. I made my entrance into the world in 1939 and so did “zing boom tararrel!” Well, actually, the melody was around for a few years before that, but the modern version, with its English lyrics, was recorded in 1939 and became popular worldwide during World War II. In June 1939, “Beer Barrel Polka,” as recorded by Will Glahé, was the top song on the Hit Parade. During World War II, the song was popular among soldiers, regardless of their allegiances, and versions in many other languages were created. Many of the Allied soldiers claimed that the song was written in their own countries. Its actual composer, a Czech named Jaromir Vejvoda, was not widely known until after the war. The song was recorded and played by many well-known groups and individuals, including the Andrews Sisters in 1939, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Benny Goodman, Bobby Vinton, Billie Holiday and Joe Patek, who sold over a million copies of his album “Beer Barrel Polka.” Frank Sinatra recorded it. “The Beer Barrel Polka” became a signature song of the well-known entertainer, Milwaukee native Liberace. In addition to its use at Packer games, the polka (usually the Frankie Yankovic rendition) has been played during the seventh-inning stretch at Brewers games since the 1970s. It’s one of Wisconsin’s unofficial state songs, and it’s played at many UW games. It’s played after every UW-Milwaukee Panthers home basketball game wins. Chico Marx plays a variation of “The Beer Barrel Polka” in two in the Marx Brothers’ movies, “At the Circus” and “A Night in Casablanca.” And then I read an amusing article about the minor league San Jose Giants. At their home games, a batter from the opposing team is designated the “beer batter.” If the San Jose pitcher strikes out that batter, beer is half price in the beer-only lines for the 15 minutes immediately following the strike out. I suppose because of the Giants’ social awareness (drink responsibly and all that!), the “beer batter” promotion is in effect only for the first six innings of the game. Each time the Beer Batter comes to the plate and after every strike during the beer batter’s at-bat (through the first six innings) the PA system plays “The Beer Barrel Polka.” After the arbitrary sixth inning deadline, the “beer batter” becomes the “apple juice batter” and if he strikes out, fans get half-priced Martinelli’s apple juice. Goofy? So what the heck is “tararrel”? You still don’t know, right? If you want to believe Wikipedia, which has the translations from Czech and some key dates, the song was first sung in the English version in 1939. Wikipedia claims that “tararrel” was something people would say in Europe in 1939, when Czechoslovakia and Poland were invaded by Germany, but it doesn’t give any meaning. Then I read on an anonymous blog that “zing, boom, tarrarel” is related to the sounds of war (i.e. bullets) surrounding an unflappable group of people who won’t have their life change without celebration. So zing boom tararrel is like a cheer? Or maybe it’s a nonsense word that someone made up to rhyme with “barrel”? Besides, what difference does it make? We love to sing the song, don’t we? Everybody ready? Here we go: Roll out the barrel, we’ll have a barrel of fun. Roll out the barrel, we’ve got the blues on the run. Zing boom tararrel, ring out a song of good cheer. Now’s the time to roll the barrel, for the gang’s all here.