Many WWI songs were about the boys leaving home, family and girls, and adjusting to army life. Some are sentimental, but most are comic songs.
They Were All Out of Step But Jim by Irving Berlin, 1918, has a marvelous cover by Barbelle and was sung by Blanche King. Hear it sung by Billy Murray here.
Jimmy's mother went to see her son
Marching along on parade
In his uniform and with his gun
What a lovely picture he made
She came home that evening
Filled up with delight
And to all the neighbors
She would yell with all her might
[Chorus]
"Did you see my little Jimmy marching
With the soldiers up the avenue?
There was Jimmy just as stiff as starch
Just like his father on the seventeenth o' March
Did you notice all the lovely ladies
Casting their eyes at him?
Away he went
To live in a tent
Over in France with his regiment
Were you there, and tell me, did you notice?
They were all out of step but Jim"
That night little Jimmy's father stood
Buying the drinks for the crowd
You could tell that he was feeling good
He was talking terribly loud
Twenty times he treated
My, but he was dry
When his glass was empty
He would treat again and cry
[Chorus]
***
There's a Vacant Chair in Every Home Tonight. 1917, by Alfred Bryan and Ernest Breuer, was illustrated by Barbelle. I am sure it brought tears to many a mother. Listen to a recording here.
There’s a mother heart that’s feeling blue.
Her darling boy is missing, he was gone with sword in hand,
To make our country safe for me and you.
In ev’ry mother’s eye there is a tear.
And on her lips a prayer could you but hear.
Refrain:
There’s a vacant chair that’s waiting there in ev’ry home tonight.
And a lonesome mother’s dreaming by the fire burning bright.
She is thinking of her gallant boy who is fighting for the right.
There’s a vacant chair in ev’ry home tonight.
Verse:
She fondly gazes at his picture hanging on the wall,
Seems but yesterday he went away.
Her dear lips keep repeating he’s the bravest boy of all.
I’m lonely but I’m proud of him today,
And oft she murmurs to herself alone,
I hope that I’ll be here when he comes home.
Refrain
***
This comedy song makes fun of the Irish. Where Do We Go From Here by Howard Johnson and Percy Wenrich, 1917 was performed by the Klein Brothers. The Klein brothers had a vaudeville act in which one spoke gibberish. Asked what it meant he replied, who cares as long as they laugh?
I can't identify the illustrator, but it shows a smiling soldier coming through a broken wall with the war behind him. Listen to a recording here.
Pad-dy Mack drove a hack up and down Broad-way,
Pat had one ex-pres-sion and he'd use it ev-'ry day,
An-y time he'd grab a fare, to take them for a ride,
Pad-dy jumped up-on the seat, - cracked his whip and cried:
Chorus:
"Where do we go from here, boys? Where do we go from here?"
An-y-where from Har-lem to a Jer-sey Cit-y pier,
When Pat would spy a pret-ty girl, he'd whis-per in her ear:
"Oh, joy! Oh, boy! Where do we go from here?"
One fine day, on Broad-way, Pat was driv-ing fast,
When the street was blown to pie-ces by a sub-way blast,
Down the hole poor Pad-dy went, a-think-ing of his past,
Then he says, says he, I think these words will be my last:
Chorus
"Where do we go from here, boys? Where do we go from here?"
Pad-dy's neck was in the wreck, but still he had no fear,
He saw a dead man next to him and whis-pered in his ear:
"Oh, joy! Oh, boy! Where do we go from here?"
First of all, at the call, when the war be-gan,
Pat en-list-ed in the ar-my as a fight-ing man,
When the drills be-gan they'd walk a hun-dred miles a day,
Tho' the rest got tir-ed, Pad-dy al-ways used to say:
Chorus
"Where do we go from here, boys? Where do we go from here?"
Slip a pill to Kai-ser Bill and make him shed a tear,
And when we see the en-e-my we'll shoot them in the rear,
"Oh, joy! Oh, boy! Where do we go from here?"
***
It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary is one of the most well known WWI songs. Written by Jack Judge and Harry Williams, 1912, it came out of the British Music Hall. "The Sensational Irish March Song Success" also features Paddy. Listen to a recording by John McCormick here.
Came an Irishman one day.
As the streets are paved with gold
Sure, everyone was gay,
Singing songs of Piccadilly,
Strand and Leicester Square,
Till Paddy got excited,
Then he shouted to them there:
Chorus
It's a long way to Tipperary,
It's a long way to go.
It's a long way to Tipperary,
To the sweetest girl I know!
Goodbye, Piccadilly,
Farewell, Leicester Square!
It's a long long way to Tipperary,
But my heart's right there.
Paddy wrote a letter
To his Irish Molly-O,
Saying, "Should you not receive it,
Write and let me know!"
"If I make mistakes in spelling,
Molly, dear," said he,
"Remember, it's the pen that's bad,
Don't lay the blame on me!"
Chorus
Molly wrote a neat reply
To Irish Paddy-O,
Saying "Mike Maloney
Wants to marry me, and so
Leave the Strand and Piccadilly
Or you'll be to blame,
For love has fairly drove me silly:
Hoping you're the same!"
Chorus
***
A popular Canadian WWI song was K-K-K-Katy, 1918, by Geoffrey O'Hara, Army Song Leader. Hear Billy Murray sing it here. Read about the composer here.
Katy was a maid with hair of gold
Like an act of fate, Kate was standing at the gate
Watching all the boys file on parade
Kate smiled with a twinkle in her eye
Jim said "M-m-meet you by-and-by!"
That same night at eight
Jim was at the garden gate
Stuttering this song to K-K-K-Kate
[Chorus
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore
When the m-m-m-moon shines over the cow shed
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore
When the m-m-m-moon shines over the cow shed
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door
[Verse 2]
"No one ever looked so nice and neat!"
"No one could be just as cute and sweet!"
That's what Jimmy thought
When the wedding ring he bought
Now he's off to France the foe to meet
Jimmy thought he'd like to take a chance
See if he could make the Kaiser dance
Stepping to a tune all about the silv'ry moon
This is what they hear in far off France
[Chorus]
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore
When the m-m-m-moon shines over the cow shed
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore
When the m-m-m-moon shines over the cow shed
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door
***
Another well-known WWI comic song is Irving Berlin's Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning, 1918, with another Barbelle cover. It was performed by Bob Hall.Berlin wrote the comic song after he was conscripted into the army as part of a fund-raising show. He never saw combat. Listen to a recording by Arthur Fields here.
The other day I chanced to meet a soldier friend of mine,
He’d been in camp for sev’ral weeks and he was looking fine,
His muscles had developed and his cheeks were rosy red,
I asked him how he liked the life,
And this is what he said:
[Chorus]
“Oh! how I hate to get up in the morning,
Oh! How I’d love to remain in bed;
For the hardest blow of all,
is to hear the bugler call;
You’ve got to get up,
You’ve got to get up,
You’ve got to get up this morning!
Someday I’m going to murder the bugler,
Someday they’re going to find him dead;
I’ll amputate his reveille,
and step upon it heavily,
And spend, the rest of my life in bed.
[Verse 2]
A bugler in the army is the luckiest of men,
he wakes the boys at five and then goes back to bed again;
He doesn’t have to blow again until the afternoon,
If ev’ry thing goes well with me I’ll be a bugler soon.
[Chorus]
“Oh! how I hate to get up in the morning,
Oh! How I’d love to remain in bed;
For the hardest blow of all, is to hear the bugler call;
You’ve got to get up,
You’ve got to get up,
You’ve got to get up this morning!
Oh! boy the minute the battle is over,
Oh! boy the minute the foe is dead,
I’ll put my uniform away and move to Philadelphia,
And spend the rest of my life in bed.
***
I Don't Want to Get Well by Harry Pease and Howard Johnson, music by Harry Jentes, 1917, is another comic song about army life. The cover shows a wounded soldier cared for by a pretty nurse while out the window combat ensues. Listen to a recording by Van & Schneck here and by Eddie Cantor here.
From a pal who marched away.
He was wounded in the trenches somewhere in France
And I worried about him night and day.
“Are you getting well,” was what I wrote.
This is what he answered in his note:
Refrain:
“I don’t want to get well. I don’t want to get well.
I’m in love with a beautiful nurse.
Early ev’ry morning night and noon,
The cutest little girlie comes and feeds me with the spoon
I don’t want to get well.
I don’t want to get well.
I’m glad they shot me on the fighting line fine.
The doctor says that I’m in bad condition
But oh oh oh I’ve got so much ambition.
I don’t want to get well. I don’t want to get well
For I’m having a wonderful time."
Verse: I showed this letter to a friend who lives next door to me
And I heard him quickly say “Goodbye, pal, I must be going.
I’m off to war, And I hope that I’m wounded right away.
If what’s in this letter here is true,
I’ll get shot and then I’ll write: (chorus)
***
Come On Papa by Edgar Leslie and Harry Ruby, 1918, with another great Barbelle cover. Eddie Cantor may be pictured on the cover but he may not have performed it. Hear an orchestral version here.
Another comic song that again portrays war as a fun adventure. Meet nurses. Meet girls.
Had a motor car;
It filled her heart with joy,
To drive a Yankee boy;
On the sly, shed wink her eye,
If one came her way,
She'd stop her motor car
And then she'd say:
chorus:
Come on papa
Hop in ze motor car
Sit by mama
And hold ze hand
You start to raise for me
What zay call ze deuce
I'll be so sweet to you
Like ze Charlotte Russe
Come on papa
Beneath the shining star
Bounce your babe upon your knee
I'll give you a kiss like ze mademoiselles do
Each time you ask for one
I'll give you two
Comme ci comme ca
And when you're in ze car
You love mama
Oo-la-la, Oo-la-la
Come on papa
Yankee boys make lots of noise,
When they're in Paree;
They like to promenade
Up on ze Boul-e-vard;
They all know Marie and so,
Any time she's near,
They knock each other down,
Each time they hear: (chorus)
