Some Hit Tunes Of World War 1
Circa 1914-1918

( In Alphabetical Order. Please do NOT ask for information on these songs. We will not reply! )



"A Khaki Lad", Reinald Werrenrath had the big vocal.
"All Of No Man's Land Is Ours", James Reese Europe's 369th Regiment "Hell Fighters" Band, Noble Sissle vocal. Recorded March 14, 1919
"America Here's My Boy", The Peerless Quartet's hit.
"America, I Love You", Edgar Leslie lyric and Archie Gottlier music. (Kalmar & Puck Music Co., 142 West 45th St., NYC 1915)
"And He'd Say "Oo-La-La Wee-Wee", A Harry Ruby and George Jessel (1919) tune was a big Billy Murray (and others) vocal hit


"Belgian Rose", (digitally re-engineered by Mr. Verne Buland) Singers Campbell and Burr had the hit.
"Beside a Belgian Water Tank"
"Bombed!"
"Coast Artillery Song"
"Darktown Strutters Ball, The"
"Dixie is Dixie Once Again"
"Don't Bite The Hand That's Feeding You"

"Don't Cry Frenchy, Don't Cry", A duet by Charles Hart/Elliott Shaw was a hit.
"Give Me A Kiss By the Numbers"
"Good-Bye, Good Luck, God Bless You"
"Good Morning Mr. Zip Zip Zip", A. Bollaert/Rob't Lloyd tune. Arthur Fields hit vocal. A great little tune but seldom now recalled. Here's the Sheetmusic Cover
"Goodbye Broadway, Hello France", (527kb). Arthur Fields vocal, in 1917. (lyric: Francis Reisner & Benny Davis; music: Billy Baskette)


"Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here!"
"Have A Little Regiment of Your Own"
"Hello Central Give Me No Man's Land", Al Jolson singing.
"Homeward Bound"
"How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree?)", (729kb) Byron G. Harland and Ada Jones in 1919. Words and Music by Walter Donaldson
"How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree?)" , (570kb) Harry Fay in 1918. Fields vocal, was a hit, but this is James Reese Europe's Hellfighters Band, Joe Young & Sam M. Lewis lyric with Walter Donaldson music. (Waterson, Berlin & Snyder Co., Music Publishing, Strand Theatre Bldg., Broadway at 47th St., 1919)


"I Ain't got Weary Yet!"
"I Didn't Raise My Boy to be a Soldier", (.ogg audio file) The lyric of this Morton Harvey hit vocal Anti-War song. was the prevailing attitude in 1915, and Morton Harvey's recording was very popular that year. By 1917, however, things had changed, and President Wilson led the United States to war. The first casualty was Mr. Harvey, whose career was ruined because he was inseparably identified with his erstwhile hit song. Here's a photo of the Sheet Music Cover.

"I Don't Know Where I'm Going But I'm On My Way"
"I Don't Want to Get Well", A Van and Schenck comedy duet.
"I Want to Go Home"

""If I'm Not at the Roll-Call"
"I'd Feel at Home If They'd Let Me Join the Army", a Billy Murray vocal hit.
"I'll Come Back to You When its All Over", Another Arthur Fields vocal.
"Indianola", Billy Murray's hit. This is James Reese Europe's Hell Fighters.
"I'll Knock The Heligo Into Heligo Out To Heligoland", sung by Arthur Fields.
"It's A Long, Long Way to the USA and the Girl I Left Behind"
"It's A Long Long Way To Tipperary", Arthur Fields vocal. This Jack Judge and Harry Williams tune was composed two years before the WW1 began, but was popular with the soldiers of Britain and America.
"JA-DA", This Arthur Fields hit release is still a popular Dixieland tune.
"K-K-K-Katy", By Geoffrey O'Hara. A WW1 Billy Murray vocal hit, but a piano solo here by Max Kortlander. "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors"
K-K-K-KATY, (562 kb). Here's the lyric as sung by Billy Murray. The song was composed by Geoffrey O'Hara
K-K-K-KATY, Here's the lyric as sung by Eugene Buckley. (Columbia A2530. ca. 1915)
"Keep The Homefires Burning", Ford/Lena Guilbert/Ivor Novello tune. Tenor John McCormick's version was the big hit. Lena Ford lyric, with Ivor Novello music. (NY: Chappell & Co., Ltd., 1914)
"Lafayette We Hear You Calling", Reinald Werrenrath had a hit release.


"Li'l Liza Jane"
"Look At the Ears on Him"
"Mademoiselle From Armentieres", (752kb). This is an English Recording featuring Jack Chapman vocal. Composed by Harry Carlton and Joe Tunbridge. (lyric sung by soldiers was a bit 'cruder'.) One of the most popular WW1 songs.
"My Belgian Rose", Words and Music By George Benoit, Robert Levenson and Ted Garton Publisher: New York: Leo Feist, Inc., Feist Building, (1918). A WW1 "war bride" song!
"My Buddy"
"My Choc'late Soldier Sammy Boy",James Reese Europe's "Hell Fighters" Band, Noble Sissle voc., Recorded Mar. 14, 1919


"Never Forget to Write Home", Sung by the great Irving Kaufman
"Oh Frenchy", sung by Arthur Fields. Here's the Sheet Music Cover
"Oh! How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning", Words and Music By Irving Berlin (1918); Berlin dedicated the tune to: "My friend 'Private Howard Friend' who occupies the cot next to mine and feels as I do about the 'bugler'"
"Oui Oui Marie", Another Arthur Fields vocal hit, recorded Sept. 1918 - Victor 18505-A. Here's a photo of the Sheet Music Cover
"Our Country's In It Now", The Orpheus Quartet hit release.
"Over There", Just about everyone sang it including the American Quartette and an instrumental version by Prince's Band, and hundreds more. Words and Music By George M. Cohan. (Publ: NY: Leo. Feist, Inc. 1917). Sheetmusic Cover. Cohan was awarded a Congressional Citation for the song.
      Sidenote: Nora Bayes was born Leonora Goldberg. In 1899 she started
      her vaudeville career in Chicago, IL. In 1908 she married another
      vaudevillian, Jack Norworth, her 2nd of 5 husbands, with whom she
      appeared on stage. She is credited with being the composer of
      "Shine On Harvest Moon", but musicologists believe that Norworth wrote
      the song and. put his wife's name on it. Bayes recorded many times for
      Victor and Columbia Records, and is most closely associated with such
      songs as "Over There", "How Ya Gonna Keep Them Down On The Farm (After
       They've Seen Paree)", and "The Japanese Sandman"
"Out In No Man's Land", James Reese Europe's Band, Noble Sissle vocal, -the hit recording
"Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag And Smile, Smile, Smile", Edward Hamilton voc. George Asaf lyric with Felix Powell music. (Publ: New York: Chappell and Co., Ltd., 41 East 34th Street 1915)
"Pay-Day!"
"Roarious"
"Roses Of Picardy", John McCormack singing in 1919. Fred E. Weatherly lyric; Haydn Wood music. (Publ: New York: Chappell-Harms, Inc., 1916)


"Round Her Neck She Wears A Yeller Ribbon"
"Sims's Flotilla"
"Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers", A huge hit vocal for Al Jolson. R.P. Weston lyric with Hermann E. Darewski music. (Publ: New York: T.B. Harms, 1914)
"Song of the Officers' Torpedo Class"
"Soup Song"

"Stand, Stand Up America"
"Stay Down Here Where You Belong", An interesting anti-war melody composed by Irving Berlin before WW1 began. Rarely heard nowadays. Henry Burr hit.

The song is in ABAB form, and the lyric is:
verse:

Down below, down below,
sat the Devil talking to his son,
who wanted to go

up above, up above
he said it's getting too warm for me
down here, and so

I'm going up on earth
so I can have a little fun
The Devil only shook his head
and answered his son,

chorus:

Stay down here where you belong,
the folks who live above you
don't know right from wrong
To please their kings
they've all gone out to war
and not a one of them knows what he's fighting for.

Way up above they say that I'm
a devil and I'm bad
kings up there are bigger
devils than your dad.

They're breaking the hearts of mothers
making butchers out of brothers
you'll find more trouble there
than you will down below.

verse:

kings up there, they don't care
for the mothers who must stay at home
their sorrows to bear.

stay at home, don't you roam
though you don't like it below,
you'll find it warmer up there.

If ere you went up on the earth
I know you'de be surprised
you'll find a lot of people
who are not civ il ized.

repeat

Stay down here
where you belong,
the folks who live above you
don't know right from wrong

To please their kings
they've all gone out to war
and not a one of them
knows what he's fighting for.

Way up above they say that I'm
a devil and I'm bad
kings up there are bigger
devils than your dad.

They're breaking the hearts of mothers
making butchers out of brothers
you'll find more trouble there
than you will down below.

"Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty", This A.J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott (Chappell Music, London, England (1916) tune was extremely popular with homesick British troops then serving in France. "Blighty" is British slang for England.
"The Army Bean"
"The Battle Song of Liberty"


"The Last Long Mile"
"The Old Grey Mare", The Collins and Harlan duet was a big hit.
"The Ragtime Soldier Man", another Irving Berlin WW1 Hit tune. Here's a photo of Sheet Music Cover
"The Rose of No Mans Land", Charles Hart and Elliott Shaw vocal duet hit.
"The Sunshine of Your Smile"
"The Worst Is Yet to Come", The Peerless Quartet had a hit.


"There'll Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight", While Arthur Fields and Peerless Quartet had a WW1 hit with this tune, it was originally heard in "Babe" Connor's Bagnio St. Louis, MO.
"There's A Long, Long Trail", Composed by Stoddard King and Zo Elliott (Publ: M. Witmark & Sons, New York (1915).
"They'll Be Mighty Proud in Dixie of Their Old Black Joe", performed by Campbell and Burr
"Till We Meet Again", Raymond B. Egan lyric and Richard Whiting music. (Publ: Detroit: Jerome H. Remick & Co., 1918). This song was last best-selling sheet music; five million copies were sold within the first year. A Detroit movie theater and the Publisher ran a contest, and Whiting entered this tune. The tune won!
"Torpedo Jim"


"The Countersigns"
"Uncle Sam"
"Wee Wee Marie", Another Arthur Fields vocal hit. Here's a photo of the Sheet Music Cover
"We're All Going Calling on the Kaiser", Arthur Fields and Peerless Quartet had a hit.
"We're Going Over", Here's a photo of Sheet Music Cover
"When Pershing's Men Go Marching Into Piccardy"


"When This Blinkin' War Is Over"
When Yankee Doodle Learns to Parlez Vous Francais", Still another Arthur Fields vocal hit. Here's a photo of Sheet Music Cover
"When You Wore A Tulip"
"Where Do We Go From Here Boys (Where Do We Go From Here)", American Quartet had hit recording, as did the Columbia Quartet vocal.
"Where They Were"

"Would You Rather Be A Colonel With An Eagle On Your Shoulder, Or A Private With A Chicken On Your Knee?" (441 kb),( Sidney Mitchell/Archie Gottlieb tune, -heard 20 years later in WWII.) Arthur Fields singing ca. 1918.
"You'll Be There"
"Your Boy Is On The Coal Pile Now"

View World War II Songs