(Campaign of 1932) Gone are the Days.txt
AIR -- 'Old Black joe'
C F C
Gone are the days when we drank good beer and wine,
7 Dm G
Gone are the days, when we sang "Sweet Adeline"
C F C
Gone from this land to a land we do not know
G C F C G7 C
I hear my friends of yore a-callin' "Have one Joe!"
F C
I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty, For the beer we used to know
G C F C G7 C
I hear my friends of yore acallin' "Have one, Joe!"
Gone are the days when we had good jobs and 'kale'
Gone are our friends to Prohibition jail!
Gone from our homes like the bums of long ago
I hear the sheriff's voice a-callin' "Out you go"
"I'm starving, I'm starving, no matter where I go
I'd like to hear my old friends calling, "Eat some, Joe!"
If a voter votes for Hoover, he is voting dry!
If a voter is so foolish, kiss yourself good bye
If you want some decent wages, what's the use to sigh?
You can't turn tears to dollars, no matter how you try
Every voter, has a 'noodle' use it now says I,
Yes vote for Franklin Roosevelt, or kiss yourself goodbye!
A Democratic vict'ry is coming on its way,
'Twill reach us in November, when the voters have their say
From Maine to California, from the mountains to the sea,
FD Roosevelt our President shall be
Every voter, gets a ballot, mark it right says I
Make Roosevelt your President, or kiss yourself goodbye
Throughout our nation, a glorious sign appears
No more want and hunger, and no more people's tears
Greed soon will be routed, and the poor forgotten man
Will have all God intended with our new Chief's plan
We'll knock out, prohibition, with repeal, not resubmission,
When Roosevelt is seated in the Presidential chair
[Anti-prohibitionists supported the Democratic party in this time period. Lyrics in this song are almalgamated from two other contemporary pieces "We Want a Man like Roosevelt" and "Kiss Yourself Goodbye".]
* * *
(Campaign of 1936) Bye Bye Landon, Goodbye.txt
AIR -- 'Toot Toot Tootsie' [Ahistorical & Conjectural]
A C° Bm7 E7 A (F#7)
When Roosevelt beat Hoover years ago,
Bm7 (E7) A (Bm7 E7)
We tho't no more pro'bition you know
A C° Bm7 E7 A (F#7)
But the G.O.P. that's ready quite to die
B7 E7 Bm7 E7
Sent out to Kansas, for teetotlers and picked out a 'dry', (but heard this:)
When Roosevelt beat Hoover a few years ago,
We tho't we were thru with pro'bition you know
But the G.O.P. party that's ready to die
Sent out to Kansas and picked out a 'dry'
A B7
So Bye Bye Landon Goodbye
E7 A
[Bye Bye Alfie, don't cry]
Bb° Bm7 E7
When you're beat there's no one will cry
Bm7 E7 A F#7 B7 E7
We know we're thru with prohibition and you
Bye Bye Landon goodbye,
E7 A7
So bye bye Landon Goodbye
D
We all know that Kansas is dry
A
But our country is wet and what a lickin' you'll get
A B7 E7 A
[Bye Bye Alfie, don't cry], so bye, bye, Landon, good-bye
They'll tell us pro'bition's noble and its grand
But all of us know it's the curse of the land
Their false resolutions will all turn to tears
For we'll elect Roosevelt another four years
* *
(Campaign of 1936) Landon, Oh Landon.txt
AIR -- 'Oh Susannah'
D 7 A7
The Alphabet we'll always have but one thing sure is true
D Bm (G) D A7 D (A7)
With Landon in, the New Deal's out; and that means P-D-Q."
D 7 A7
Alf Landon learned a thing or two, he knows the right solution,
D 7 Bm E7 D A7 D (7)
And in the white house he will stay, within the constitution
G 7 D 7 A7
Oh Alf Landon, Just wait and you will see
D Bm G E7 D A7 D (A7)
We'll put you in the White House, where you really ought to be
In this New Deal of Alphabets, that runs from "A" to "Z"
You've only had experiments all full of lunacy
And if at first they don't succeed, they try and try again
While out of work you still can find about twelve million men
We've had enough emergency, we've had enough experiment
We've seen the money go, all right, but don't know where it went
If Roosevelt could have his way, we'd all be in his grip
And soon he'd change the Ship of State, to his dictatorship
They spend our money right and left, we take it on the chin
Enough's enough let's follow Smith, let's get Alf Landon in!
He'll show the way to save the day, and scrap all this relief
He knows it's jobs the people want, not idleness and grief
Landon, oh Landon will lead to victory,
With the dear old Constitution, and it's good enough for me
Oh he comes from out of Kansas, with a fervor good to see
And he's going to the white house, with the help of You and ME
He's not out to experiment, he treads a well-planned path
And for all those visionary schemes he has a sane man's wrath
It was good enough for Washington, for Grant and Lincoln too
And for good old TEDDY Roosevelt, so it's good enough for you
Salute the Founding Fathers, their legacy's for you
Let's save our menaced freedom from Moscow's reddish hue
Oh Alf Landon! The nation dries its tears
For the Jubilee is coming after four long [Franklin] years
[William Randolph Hearst, and ardent Landon supporter, offered prizes to his many readers for the best campaign song to the tune of "Oh Susannah". Here is an amalgamation of the best. The reference to "Smith" is to former democrat Al Smith, who endorsed Landon. PDQ probably means "Pretty Damned Quick"]
* * *
(Campaign of 1936) That's why we're voting for Roosevelt.txt
AIR -- 'Marching Through Georgia'
E 7 A E
Herbie Hoover promised us "Two chickens in each pot"
C#m F#7 B7
Breadlines and Depression were the only things we got
E (7) A E (7)
I lost my job, my bank blew up, and I was on the spot
B 7 E
That's why I'm voting for Roosevelt
7 A E
Horray, Horray, Herb Hoover's gone away
7 B (7)
Hooray, Hooray, I hope he's gone to stay
E 7 A E C#m
For now I'm back to work and get my three squares ev'ry day
F#7 B7 E
That's why I'm voting for Roosevelt
They tell us Mr Landon is a very clever gent
He kids them out in Kansas though he never spends a cent
But Willie Hearst and Standard Oil are coughing up his rent
That's why we're voting for Roosevelt
Hooray! Hooray! They fooled me once before
Hoory! Hooray! And was I feeling sore
No GOP can hodwink me as in the days of yore
That's why I'm voting for Roosevelt
Wall Street sure is kicking for they know they're on the pan
Franklin 'D' in Washington upset their little plan
And now the one on top is that poor once forgotten man
That's why were voting for Roosevelt
Hooray Hooray, he banished all our fear
Horray hooray, our banks are in the clear
He brought us back prosperity he gave us back our beer
That's why I'm voting for Roosevelt
* * *
(Campaign of 1940) Do Ye Ken F.D.txt
AIR -- "Do Ye Ken John Peel"
C
D'ye ken F.D. with his smile so wide?
G7
D'ye ken F.D. at his fireside?
C Am F C
D'ye ken F.D. and the schemes he's tried
F C G7 C
On his poor fellowmen without warning?
He had schemes for packing the Supreme Court
He has schemes that are leaving the Treasury short
He has dreams of making a third term port
But he's got to wake up in the morning
[He promised he'd balance the national budget
He cannot get near enough even to nudge it
He promised a lot but just look what we got
We are all of us living on air]
[National budget verse is adapted from a different song of the same election year]
* * *
(Campaign of 1940) Fare You Well.txt
AIR -- 'Tavern in the Town'
C
There is a man in Washington, Washington,
G
And if you try to pin him down, pin him down
C 7 F
You will find he's off on another spending spree
G7 C
Or gone a fishing in the sea
G7
Fare you well for you must leave us
C
And the parting will not grieve us
G7
For we know as President
C F C
That you are through, are through
Adieu, adieu my friends' adieu Friends adieu,
We will no longer hear from you, hear from you
When you hang your hat on the Roosevelt famly tree
Oh then, how thankful we will be
And now a man has come to tow, come to town
A man who'll never let us down, let used own,
And with Willkie we will win a victory
We'll say goodbye to Franklin D.!
* * *
(Campaign of 1944) Good Night Franklin.txt
AIR -- 'Good Night, Ladies'
[Goodnight, Frankie]
[Goodnight, Harry]
C
Goodnight, Perkins
G7
Goodnight, Ickes,
C F
Goodnight, Browder
C G7 C
You're leaving us at last
C
Pack your grip and roll along
G C
Roll along, roll along
Pack your grip and roll along
G 7 C
And 'clear with Sidney's' past
[From the "Dewey-Bricker" songsheet. Frances Perkins was secretary of labor and Harold Ickes was secretary of the interior,. Earl Browder was Gen Sec of the Communist Party and had received a presidential pardon. Sidney Hillman was director of the CIO PAC and an important labor leader. "Clear it with Sidney" was assumed to be a Roosevelt phrase. Dewey, the Republican nominee, had spoke of the "Hillman, Browder, & Co" as the Roosevelt support team.