I listened to all the available recordings on YouTube--there were several--and compiled this composite:


GOODBYE, MAMA (I'M OFF TO YOKOHAMA)
Words and music by J. Fred Coots, ©1941.

Johnny was a soldier boy who never looked for scraps,
But this young buckaroo
Was Yankee through-and-through;
Then Johnny heard our country's call to arms against the Japs,
And as he marched away,
His buddies heard him say:

1. [Male voice:] Goodbye, mama.
I'm off to Yokohama
For the red, white, and blue,
My country, and you.
Goodbye, mama.
I'm off to Yokohama
Just to teach all those Japs
The Yanks are no saps.
A million fightin' sons of Uncle Sam, if you please,
Will soon have all those Japs right down on their Japa-knees.
So goodbye, mama.
I'm off to Yokohama
For my country, my flag, and you.

2. [Female voice:] Say goodbye to mama.
You're off to Yokohama,
So be brave and be strong;
You won't be gone long.
Say bye-bye, mama,
For Land of Yama-Yama
Until April I guess
Will be your address.
On Christmas eve when dad and I are trimming the tree,
You'll do your share of trimming out on land and on sea.
Say goodbye to mama;
You're off to Yokohama
For your country, your flag and me.

* * *
VARIATIONS – In some recordings, the following lines are substituted for the lines in italics above:

[Female voice:] All those Japs will feel worse
To hear I'm a nurse.
A soldier needs a woman's touch when he starts to fight.
That's why the girls will do their share with all of their might.

Though the Japs may tough,
We're calling their bluff.

Though they're tricky and smart,
We'll soon break their heart.
Our bugler is a colored boy who's good with the dice,
And when he's finished with the Japs they'll soon have no rice.

Tell dad I plan a big surprise; nobody knows.
I'll bring him back a Jap valet to care for his clothes.

We're learning jujitsu where you kick with the feet.
We'll kick 'em in their Tojo and watch 'em retreat.