Doughboy Center

The Story of the American Expeditionary Forces




37th Division

DOUGHBOY

MUSIC

 

 


Over There
by
George M. Cohan

Over There

Presented by the Great War Society
 

| Hit Parade | The Madelmoiselle | "Classics" |
  | Musicals & Revues |

 

YOUR DOUGHBOY HIT PARADE


10


OH, HOW I HATE TO GET UP IN THE MORNING

Click for Music

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 this morning!

Some day I'm going to murder the bugler,
Some day they're going to find him dead;
I'll amputate his reville,
     And step upon it heavily,
And spend the rest of my life in bed.

Composer: Irving Berlin





TILL WE MEET AGAIN


Smile the while..you kiss me sad
 adieu,
When the clouds roll by I'll come
  to you,
Then the skies will seem more blue...
Down in lovers lane...my dearie
Wedding bells will ring so merrily,
Every tear will be a memory,
Wait and pray each night for me,

Composer: Richard Whiting





GOOD-BYE BROADWAY, HELLO FRANCE


Good-bye New York town, goodbye Miss
  Liberty,
Your light of freedom will guide us across
   the sea,
Ev'ry soldier's sweatheart bidding
  goodbye,
Ev'ry soldier's mother drying her eye,
Cheer up we'll soon be there,
              Singing this Yankee air:

Good-bye Broadway, Hello France,
               We're ten million strong,
Good-bye sweethearts, wives and mothers;
                 It won't take us long,
Don't you worry while we're there;
               It's for you we're fighting too,
So Good-bye Broadway, Hello France;
              We're going to square our debt to you.

Lyrics: C. Francis Reisner & Benny Davis
Music: Billy Baskette





HOW YA GONNA KEEP EM DOWN ON THE FARM AFTER THEY'VE SEEN PAREE?

Click for Music


How'ya gonna keep'em down on the
   farm,
After they've seen Paree?
How'ya gonna keep'em
Away from Broadway,
Jazzin' aroun', and Paintin' the town?
How'ya gonna keep'em away from
   harm?
That's a mystery.

Lyrics: Sam Lewis and Joe Young
Music: Walter Donaldson



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TIPPERARY


Up to mighty London came an Irishman
  one day,
As the streets are paved with gold, sure   ev'ryone was gay;
Singing songs of Piccadilly, Strand and
  Leicester Square,
Till Paddy got excited, then he shouted
  to them there:

"lt'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!
Good-bye, Piccadilly!
Farewell, Leicester Square!
It's a long, long way to Tipperary,
But my heart's right there! "

Composers:
   Jack Judge and Harry Williams






K-K-K-KATY


Jimmy was a soldier brave and bold,
  Kate was a maid with hair of gold,
Like an act of fate,
  Kate was standing at the gate,
  Watching all the boys on dress parade,
Jimmy with the girls was just a gawk,
  Stuttered every time he tried to talk,
Still that night at eight, he was there at   Katy's gate,
Stuttering to her this love sick cry.

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.

Composer: Geoffrey O'Hara





THERE'S A LONG, LONG TRAIL A-WINDING INTO NO MAN'S LAND IN FRANCE


There's a long, long trail a-
  winding
Into the land of my dreams,
Where the nightingales are
  singing
And a white moon beams:

There's a long, long night of
  waiting
Until my dreams all come true;
Till the day when I'll be going
Down that long, long trail
  with you.

Lyrics: Stoddard King
Music: Zo Elliot





PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES IN AN OLD KIT BAG


Pack up your troubles
In your old kit bag
And smile, smile, smile.
While you've a lucifer
To light your fag.
Smile, boys,
That's the style.
What's the use of worrying,
It never was worth while,

So ---- Pack up your troubles
In your old kit bag
And smile, smile, smile.

Lyrics: George Asf
Music: Felix Powell






OVER THERE

Click for Music


Over There, Over There
Send the word, send the word,
  Over There
That the Yanks are coming,
  The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum tumming everywhere
So prepare, Say a Prayer
Send the word, send the word to beware
We'll be over, we're coming over.
And we won't be back till it's over
  Over there!

Over There, Over There
Send the word, send the word,
  Over There
That the Yanks are coming,
  The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum tumming everywhere
So prepare, Say a Prayer
Send the word, send the word to beware
We'll be over, we're coming over.
And we won't be back till it's over
O  Over there!

Composer: George M. Cohan





MADEMOISELLE FROM ARMENTIERES
OR
HINKY-DINKY, PARLEZ VOUS


Pack up your old kit bag and head down that long, long trail. Ahead we have a whole section dedicated to the Mademoiselle.



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TWELVE VARIATIONS ON
MADEMOISELLE FROM ARMENTIERES


Renee Adoree with John Gilbert
The Madamoiselle and Doughboy of
The Big Parade

Renee Adoree and John Gilbert

 


This stop on the DOUGHBOY CENTER is best enjoyed by humming the tune and then singing it aloud.




The Basic Lyric


Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
She hasn't been kissed for forty years!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?




The Mademoiselle's First Trade:


Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,   Parley-vous
She got the palm and the croix de guerre,
For washin' soldiers' underwear,
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?



Versions Elaborating on the Mademoiselle's Character and Hygiene:

Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
You didn't have to know her long,
To know the reason men go wrong!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
She's the hardest working girl in town,
But she makes her living upside down!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
The cooties rambled through her hair;
She whispered sweetly "C'est la guerre."
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
She'll do it for wine, she'll do it for rum,
And sometimes for chocolate or chewing   gum!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?




Sometimes the Mademoiselle Moved to other Cities:

Oh, Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire,
   Parley-vous
The Mademoiselle from St. Nazaire,
She never washed her underwear.
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

Oh, Mademoiselle from Aix-Les-Bains,
   Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Aix-Les-Bains,
   Parley-vous
Mademoiselle from Aix-Les-Bains,
She gave the Yankees shooting pains!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?




Adaptations for Blowing Off Steam at the Brass:

Oh, Mademoiselle from Montparnasse,
   Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Montparnasse,
   Parley-vous
As soon as she'd spy a Colonel's brass,
She'd take off her skirt and roll in the
  grass!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre,
  Parley-vous
The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre,    Parley-vous
The Colonel got the Croix de Guerre,
The son-of-a-gun was never there!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?




Nostalgic Versions:

Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
You might forget the gas and shell
But you'll nev'r forget the Mademoiselle!
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Oh, Mademoiselle from Armentieres,
  Parley-vous
Where are the girls who used to swarm
About me in my uniform?
Hinky-dinky, parlez-vous?

 



The lineage of Hinky-dinky, Parlez-Vous? is a little murky. Most sources credit its origins to a song of the British Indian Army called "Skiboo". The lyrics of the World War I version were possibly written at Armentieres, a rest area behind the British line, in March, 1915 by Edward Rowland and a Canadian composer, Lt. Glitz Rice. Another unsubstantiated claim of authorship was made by Alfred J. Walden (using pseudonym of Harry Wincott).

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SOME LESSER KNOWN "CLASSICS"

How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?



THE ARMY BEAN

BESIDE A BELGIAN WATER-TANK

BOMBED!

GIVE ME A KISS BY THE NUMBERS

HAVE A LITTLE REGIMENT OF YOUR OWN

I DON'T WANT TO GET WELL

LOOK AT THE EARS ON HIM

KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN, FRITZIE BOY

HANG THE ON A SOUR APPLE TREE

SISTER SUSIE'S SEWING SHIRTS FOR SOLDIERS

TORPEDO JIM

WHEN PERSHING'S MEN GO MARCHING INTO PICARDY
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MUSICALS & REVUES





Irving Berlin With
Cast Members

 

Irving Berlin's Yip! Yip Yaphank!

Performed at Camp Upton, Long Island by and for the troops and later in New York, Berlin's Doughboy review produced Oh How I Hate To Get Up in the Morning! and a song which because of its solemn tone the composer waited twenty more years to premier: God Bless America.

Yip, Yip...was the model for a similar show for the Second World War: This is the Army!

Click here to visit a website that discusses both reviews at the National Archives



Sweetheart of the AEF

 

Elsie Janis Visits The Big Show

Broadway performer Elsie Janis spent six months touring the Western Front and was a hit with the troops. Her shows were the model for the the USO shows of World War II. She would perform her standards, then invite a doughboy on stage for a duet and then conduct a sing along.


Plaque at Elsie's Grave, Glendale, Calif.

Click here to read a biographical sketch about Elsie's career


K. Weill
Kurt Weill

 

Kurt Weill's Doughboy Musical: Johnny Johnson

In the 1930s after fleeing the Nazis, with lyricist Paul Green, Weill produced an anti-military satirical musical about a doughboy who stops a war using laughing gas. Naturally, the militarists are unhappy about this and committ the tender-hearted Johnny to an insane asylum. After his release, he finds his sweetheart , Minny Belle, married to the unxious town capitalist and becomes a toymaker.

There were no "hits" from this musical, but some of the titles are still evocative:

Song of the Wounded Frenchmen,

Mon Ami, My Friend, and

The Psychiatry Song

The Kurt Weill Website
has lots of information on the content and history of Johnny Johnson.
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Sources and thanks: Thanks to Jack Savage Wildman, Mary Schaefer and Susan Neeson of the Great War Society for their contributions and inspirations. A.J. Marik provided the image of Elsie Janis's plaque. Dick Layman told me about Johnny Johnson. The details of Hinky Dinky's history are from The Book of World Famous Music by James J. Fudd The basic Hit Parade was from a list of the Douboys Favorites compiled by Pvt. Willard Newton and now kept in the Archives of the Imperial War Museum in London. Details and lyrics of WWI music are Compiled by Frank E. Peat In Legion Airs, Lee Orean Smith, editor.



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Additions and comments on these pages may be directed to:
Michael E. Hanlon (medwardh@hotmail.com) regarding content,
or toMike Iavarone (mikei01@execpc.com) regarding form and function.
Original artwork & copy; © 1998-2000, The Great War Society