Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 16 Feb 23 - 06:28 AM

It's official:

“THE G.I. SONG
1st Verse:
The coffee that they give you,
They say is mighty fine,
It's good for cuts and bruises
And tastes like iodine,

2nd Verse:
The pancakes that they serve you
They say are mighty fine
One fell off the table
And killed a pal of mine.

3rd Verse:
The soup that the yserve you
They say is mighty fine
A bowl fell off the table
And scalded ninety-nine.

4th Verse:
The chicken that they give you
They say is mighty fine
One fell off the table
And started marking time.

5th Verse:
The shoes that the issue
They say are mighty fine
You ask for number seventeen
They give you number nine

6th Verse:
Your wife comes to see you
The put you on K.P.
They put you on the clipper
A Helluva place to be,

7th Verse:
The girls that they give us
They say are mighty fine
Some are over ninety
The others under nine.

CHORUS
I don't want no more of Army life
Gee Mom, I wanta go home.”
[AAFTC, Morale Singing Program, Keesler Field Song Book, July 1943]

Col. Robert E.M. Goolrick, Commanding Officer
Lt. Col. Harry G. Douglas, Dir. of Band Training
2nd. Lt. Alexander M. Sulloway, Post Morale Singing Officer
Army Air Forces Training Command

Note: See Keesler references above. Pete Seeger was probably at Keesler, AFB when Moss Hart passed through in July-August 1942. Neil Simon's turn was nearer the end of WWII, c.1945.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 16 Feb 23 - 06:29 AM

“BULLSHIT SONG
The coffee that they give us,
They say is mighty fine.
It's good for cuts and bruises,
And tastes like iodine.

Chorus:
Oh, I don't want any more
        of this bullshit,
I just want to go home.

The chicken that they give us
They say it is the best,
We get the neck and the asshole,
The officers get the rest.
CHORUS:

If you want to go to Frisco,
To get a piece of ass.
You've got to see the Sergeant Major
And get a goddam pass.
CHORUS:”
[Unititled Marine Songbook, W.W.W., c.1943]

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 16 Feb 23 - 05:41 PM

MASH television version transcription:
A chaplain in the army
Has a collar round his neck
If you don't listen to him
You will all end up in heck

The surgeons in the army
They say we're mighty bright
We work on soldiers through the day
And nurses through the night

They say that friendships in the army
Are mighty rare
So I spend all my playtime
Carousing with my bear

The trenchers in the army
They claim they are profound
But watch for chopper pilots
They will get you on the ground

The corprals in the army
They say we are mighty green
But if it weren't for us guys
You would be a latrine

Some guys like the army
But I think it is a mess
If it were so terrific
Then why do I wear a dress

Oh the nurses in the army
They have not tied the knot
But this one's going try it
With Donald Penobascot.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Renewal, spring is in the air

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 16 Feb 23 - 10:45 PM

The play had five verses:

“ACT ONE
Scene II
(The Soldiers)

The biscuits in the army they say are mighty fine.
One rolled off the table and killed a pal of mine.
Oh, I don't want no more of Army life,
Gee, Mom, I want to go home!

The chicken in the Army they say is mighty fine.
One jumped off the table and started marching time.
Oh, I don't want no more of Army life,
Gee, Mom, I want to go home!

Payday in the Army they say is mighty fine.
They give you fifty dollars and fine you forty-nine.
Oh, I don't want no more of Army life,
Gee, Mom, I want to go home!

Furloughs in the Army they say are mighty fine.
They put it down on paper, but where the hell is mine?
Oh, I don't want no more of Army life,
Gee, Mom, I want to go home!

The coffee in the Army they say is mighty fine.
It's good for cuts and bruises and tastes like iodine.
Oh, I don't want no more of Army life,
Gee, Mom, I want to go home!”
[Winged Victory, The Army Air Forces Play, Hart, 1943]

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 16 Feb 23 - 10:48 PM

“After the death of Esther Van Sciver in 1952, Miller married his third wife, Nita Crabbe, on June 1, 1953. In a wedding announcement, she was said to be a veteran attorney and civil engineer. Unfortunately, not much else is known of her. She seems to have been living in Nyack, New York, where Miller lived, just before their wedding. Also, per the Catalog of Copyright Entries, she was renewing copyrights on Miller’s songs throughout the 1960s and 1970s.”
[Roberts]


(I DON'T WANT NO MORE OF ARMY LIFE) GEE, MOM, I WANT TO GO HOME; w&m Charlotte Kackley, pseud. of Bob Miller. © 14Apr44; EU371228. Nita Crabbe Miller Spivey Thrash (W): 17Mar72; R525154.”
[Music January-June 1972, Catalog of Copyright Entries Third Series, Vol.26, Pt.5, Secs.1-2, 1973]

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Feb 23 - 07:52 AM

After the introduction of the draft in 1940, the American press was always on the lookout for lighthearted stories of army life.

If the song had been *widely* known much before the spate of references in late '42 - early '43, my guess is that it would have been reported on.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: cnd
Date: 17 Feb 23 - 09:36 AM

This always brings me to the "Kickin' My Dawg Around" dilemma -- everyone said it was widely known before the 1912 election, but no other sources can be found. It's hard to say in retrospect, though the inclination is to say it was not.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Feb 23 - 11:16 AM

The difference is that there would have been little impulse to report the existence of a lyric like "They better quit kickin' my dog around."

Also, the dog song went to the fiddle tune of "Sally Ann" ("Great big Taters in Sandy Land," etc.), leading to two contrasting possibilities:

1. People with an imperfect memory of words sung to "Sally Ann" might easily be led to believe that the dog lyrics had long been known, or

2. The lyrics had been known, at least in Missouri, but like so many words to fiddle tunes, nobody cared enough to mention them earlier.

My own view is that it's impossible to know, but if pressed I'd go with No. 1.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 17 Feb 23 - 11:38 AM

Lighter: Do you have a copy of Bronner's American Children's Folklore? If so, what was his source for Gitz Rice?

No shortage of American university/college/school songbooks between the wars either. Not a trace so far.

I do know this much for certain:   
a. The Millers even claimed Found a Peanut at one point. But if they lifted this one from Gitz Rice they certainly covered both his & their tracks well.

b. The Smithonian-Folkways sources are completely bogus. It was in Pete Seeger's G.I. songbook and he recorded a half dozen+ takes for the Army before Folkways & Leadbetter.

c. A Mudcat thread is the best reference out there.

Ooooh the songs in the Army they say are mighty fine...

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Feb 23 - 10:05 PM

I've just double-checked Bronner: no mention at all of Gitz Rice.

Moreover, contrary to Carey, Richard Dorson did not say that "Gee, Mom" was ever sung to the tune of "The Old Chisholm Trail."

What he said was:

"The most representative [American military folksong] is known by its chorus, 'Gee mom, I want to go home.' Adopted by the Army, Navy, and Marines, this lugubrious plaint echoes such favorite ballads of the cowboys as 'The Old Chisholm Trail' and of the lumberjacks as 'The Shantyman's Life.'"

"Lugubrious?" Had Dorson never heard the song sung? It's wry satire, not a "plaint." Few GIs would seriously call upon "Mom" in front of their barracks mates.

He gives five stanzas (no tune) with ellipses to indicate lines omitted - no indication why:

                      "I Don't Like Navy Life"

They say that in the Navy
The biscuits are so fine
But one fell off the table
And killed a pal of mine.

CHORUS:

I don't like Navy life.
Gee, Mom, I want to go
Right back to Quantico,
Gee mom, I want to go home.

They say that in the Navy
The pay is very fine.
They give you fifty dollars
And take back forty-nine.

They say that in the Navy
The coffee is so fine.
It's good for cuts and bruises
and tastes like iodine.

They say that in the Navy
The chicken is so fine.
A leg dropped off the table
And started marking time,

. . . . .

They say that in the Navy
The clothes are mighty fine,
But I need Lana Turner
To fill out part of mine.

. . . . .

It would be unlikely for a sailor to wanna go "back to Quantico," which in WW2 was primarily a Marine Corps base. Possibly Dorson's source replaced "Marine Corps" with "Navy" and kept "Quantico" for the rhyme.

Another full WW2 text is in New York Folklore Quarterly in 1947, collected by Agnes Nolan Underwood from one or more of her students:

The coffee that they serve you
   They say is mighty fine;
It's good for cuts and bruises
   And it tastes like iodine.
I don't want no more of Navy chow,
Gee Ma, I wanna go home.

[Next comes the marching chicken, then:]

The spaghetti that they serve you
    They say is mighty fine;
Some rolled off the table
    and hung a friend of mine....

[The final stanza is about the doughnuts.]


If I can dig out the similar but less clever WW1 song from Dolph I'll post it tomorrow.

To repeat, it's quite a stretch, despite its popularity, to connect Gitz Rice's song with this one. It's like saying "Louie, Louie" came from "Meet Me in St. Louis, Louie." You can't deny the similarity.
;^)

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Feb 23 - 10:12 PM

This online Navy version is dated 2017. The chorus is gone, suggesting a possible call-and-response pattern:

                  Navy Marching Cadence

They say that in the Navy the coffee’s mighty fine
it looks like muddy water, it tastes like turpentine.

They say that in the Navy, the mail’s so fast it’s great
Today I got a letter dated 1948.

They say that in the Navy the toilets are mighty fine,
you flush them down at seven, they come back up again at nine.

They say that in the Navy the pay is mighty fine,
they give you 100 dollars and take back 99
.
They say that in the Navy the training’s mighty fine
Last night there were ten of us, now there’s only nine.

They say that in the Navy, the meat is mighty fine
Last night we had ten puppies, his morning only nine

They say that in the Navy, the shoes are mighty fine
You ask for size eleven, they give you size nine

They say that in the Navy, the pancakes are mighty fine
You can try to chew them, but you’re only wasting time

They say that in the Navy, the bed’s are mighty fine
But how the hell would I know, I’ve never slept in mine

They say that in the Navy, the hours are just right
Start early in the morning and work on through the night

They say that in the Navy, the buses are mighty fine
One went round the corner, and left three wheels behind

They say that in the Navy, the coffee’s mighty fine
It’s good for cuts and bruises and tastes like iodine

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 18 Feb 23 - 06:11 PM

Mr.Lighter,

The Navy 2017 is fun and different.

Source?

Sincerely,
Gargoyle


Do YOU believe P-Z will ever appear? I view "S" as no issue, "F" was negotiated with finesse.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Booter
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 08:52 AM

There is a British Army version. The only verse I can recall is

They say that in the army the fags (cigarettes ) are very fine
You ask for 20 Capstan
They give you 5 Woodbine
Oompah I want to go
But they won’t let me
Oompah I want to go home

I’m sure there’s more.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 09:30 AM

Houston Post (Feb. 16, 1941), p. 1:

FIRST LADY WANTS RACY C.C.C. DITTY ON [sic] MUSICALE

Washington, Feb. 15. – (UP) – Mrs. Roosevelt said Saturday night that she hopes the library of congress [sic] will include in its repertoire at next Monday evening’s White House musicale a disrespectful folk song composed by the Civilian Conservation Corps boys.

President Roosevelt has heard the song which jibes at his pet agency. Two former C.C.C. boys sang it for him at a Labor Day picnic at Hyde Park last year. He thought it was swell, but Crown Princess Martha of Norway was astonished at the audacity of the song.

It is one of those folk tunes like ‘Franky and Johnnie [sic]’ which grow and grow, but here are five verses and the refrain the President heard last year:

I broke into a jeweler’s
And stole a thing or two,
They said ‘You better leave town, boy,
The cops are after you.

Refrain:

Oh, I don’t want no more of the C.C.C.!
See, bud, I wanna go home.

The salary that they pay you,
   They say is mighty fine;
They give you thirty dollars,
   And fine you twenty-nine.

When you go into the rec hall,
   You’d better bring your bunch,
And when you go into the mess hall,
   You’d better bring your lunch.

The pancakes that they feed you,
   They say they’re mighty fine.
I bounced one on a table,
    And killed a friend of mine.

The turkey that they feed you,
    They say it’s of the best.
We get the neck and feathers;
    The captain gets the rest.

The coffee that they feed you,
    They say it’s mighty fine;
Good for cuts and bruises –
    Just like iodine.

C.C.C. officials will attend the musicale which follows dinner at the White Hous. So will officials of the National Youth Administration, the Works Project Administration, the army and navy, and other agencies engaged in training youth. The purpose of the musicale, Mrs. Roosevelt said, is to demonstrate that this country has a real folk music suitable for singing in camps.

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 09:34 AM

The jewel robbery is a surprising twist.

Two more WW2 texts:

The Miami [Fla.] Daily News (Jan. 31, 1943), p. C-12:

                           

                  World War II Inspires New Song Themes

The chicken that they give us,
They say is mighty fine;
But one jumped off the table
   And did a double time.
I don’t want no more of this Ar-mee,
Yipee [sic] I want to go home.

The biscuits that they give us,
   They say are mighty fine,
But one fell off the table
   And killed a pal of mine.
I don’t want no more, etc.

The details that they give us,
   They say are mighty fine;
The garbage that we pick up,
   They feed us all the time,
I don’t want no more, etc.

The sergeants that they give us,
   They say are mighty fine;
They make us count the cadence
   And give us double time.
I don’t want no more, etc.

The women that they give us,
   They say are mighty fine;
The most are over ninety,
   The rest are under nine.
I don’t want no more, etc.

*************************

The Mitchell [Ind.] Tribune (July 8, 1943), p. 5:

[From] Cpl. Clarence Pruet, 172d Ordnance Dept. Co., Camp Adair, Oregon….:

I like the G.I. coffee, like it mighty fine; Good for cuts and bruises, just like iodine.

I like G.I. biscuits, like them mighty fine; One rolled off the table, and killed a pal of mine.

I like G.I. payday, it is mighty fine; Pay you 50 dollars, and dock you 49.

I like the G.I. haircuts, they are surely fine; Peels you like an onion, makes your bald head shine.

I like the G.I. blankets, they are pals of mine; But they are only five feet long; I am five feet nine.

I like the G.I. orders, they are sweet and kind; If it’s not “inspection arms” it’s “straighten up that………line.”

And, Oh, those G.I. mess kits, from which we all do dine; Spent seven hours rubbing mine, the ………..thing still won’t shine.

There is a G.I. article for which I really pine; That’s a two weeks furlough, to that old home of mine.

*****************************

A letter from Miami Beach, published a week earlier in Time (June 7, 1943), has the first three stzs. (only) exactly as above (except in correct form and correctly punctuated). It adds the refrain,

“Gee, Ma, I want to go, gee, Ma I want to go
Gee, Ma, I want to go home.”

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 02:19 PM

Beat me to it! Been able to open, preview but not post in the thread for some new reason. But now we're getting somewhere. Is there a C.C.C. song thread?

Your '05 convo with Tannywheeler re the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Songs You Learned in the Service?

Those lyrics do look more like the late 1940s stuff.

More ghost of the Gitz: Spanish Civil War Songs: Who Sings What? (credit, no lyrics.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 07:26 PM

Here is a link to 2 posts on MUDCAT Permathread Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War which give information about the song in that conflict   https://mudcat.org/usersearch.cfm?who=GUEST%2CJohn%20Fisher

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 08:56 PM

Geoff: Those are the Gitz Rice lyrics. The score/count is now at four wars and two songs… I think...

Lighter: Just now noticed our sources are different; zinger of an extra paragraph at the end here:

“...Alan Lomax, of the Folk Music Division of the Library of Congress, is in charge of the program. He entertained at a White House dinner for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain in 1939 with cowboy songs. He played his own accompaniment on the guitar. Trainees from CCC camps in this vicinity will take part in the program.”
[Oakland Tribune, Vol.134, No.47, 16 Feb 1941]

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 09:17 PM

“39. GEE, BUT I WANT TO GO HOME
...From the very first days of training, however, the most popular of all soldier songs in World War II was “Gee, but I Want to Go Home.” This was an adaptation of a British song of World War I composed by Lt. Gitz Rice:

I want to go home, I want to go home,
The bullets they whistle, the cannon they roar,
I don't want to stay here anymore;
Take me over the sea,
Where the Germans can't get me,
O my, I'm too young to die,
I want to go home.

One must conclude from their songs that American citizen soldiers don't care for wars, but up to now they have won them.”

“Gee, But I Want to Go Home
Words and melody adapted and arranged by John A. and Alan Lomax
Piano arrangement by Charles and Ruth Seeger”

...Coffee, biscuits, clothes, money, girls. Chorus:
I don't want no more of army life,
Gee, but I want to go,
Gee, but I want to go home.
[Folk Song U.S.A., Lomax & Lomax, 1947]

Also as: Best Loved American Folk Songs, 1947

Subject: RE: Origins: Gee But I Wanna Go Home
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Feb 23 - 10:00 PM

That was Tannywheeler's most recent post (2010).

I'd like to see better evidence that the song was sung in Spain, though popularity in the CCC would have made it perfectly plausible.

But for all we know, it was scarcely known in the CCC.


Here is Dolph's WW1 song for comparison. Though the the lyrics are highly topical and specific and tune is different, the later song almost certainly stems from versions of this:

                  “I Don’t Want No More Army”

The of?cers live on top of the hill
We live down in the slop and swill.

CHORUS: I don’t want no more army,
Lordy, how I want to go home!

We had a major and his name was Tack;
He rode a horse and we carried a pack.

The lieutenants, they all work and sweat;
The captain sits around like a vi-o-let.

They showed me the mule that I could ride.
They didn’t show the shovel on the other side.

We’ve got a kitchen on four wheels,
Just a-warming beans for our meals.

I’ve learned a little, more or less.
Now I know why they call it mess.

The meat was rotten, and the spuds were bum;
They mixed it all together and they called it slum.

We loaded up the wagon and then,
We had to take it all off again.

The of?cers, they don’t work a bit;
I don’t see how they get away with it.

We do work for the lieutenant, and then
The captain makes us do it all over again.


Some of it seems to refer to the crew of a mule-drawn "rolling kitchen" used to bring hot meals to troops on the march.