Roll Out The Barrel was originally composed by Jaromir Vejvoda (1902 - 1988), a Czech composer, who wrote it in 1927 (without words) as Modranská Polka. Seven years later in 1934, it acquired Czech words by Vašek Zeman, becoming Škoda lásky, English words by Lew Brown, and a title by Wladimir Timm - The Beer Barrel Polka.
In 1935, it was a massive hit in Europe for German accordeonist and bandleader Will Glahé, who received a gold disc for it in 1938 as Rosamunde, with German words by Klaus Richter. In 1939, Glahé and his Musette Orchestra sold a million copies of the song in America, and the now famous Beer Barrel Polka was covered by the Andrews Sisters.

It was sung by soldiers in WWII, and was also reputed to be Eisenhower's favourite song.

It has been a hit in 15 countries and 36 languages, including a Danish version called Hvor er min kone.

In a recent poll in the Czech Republic it was voted the most popular Czech song ever.