The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #151796   Message #3547014
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
08-Aug-13 - 01:59 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: This Is the Army, Mr. Jones (Berlin)
Subject: Lyr Add: THIS IS THE ARMY, MR. JONES (Berlin)
THIS IS THE ARMY, MR. JONES
(Irving Berlin, 1942)

We all have been selected from city and from farm
They asked us lots of questions, they jabbed us in the arm
We stood there at attention, our faces turning red
The sergeant looked us over and this is what he said:

This is the Army, Mister Jones
No private rooms or telephones
You had your breakfast in bed before
But you won't have it there any more.

This is the Army, Mister Green
We like the barracks nice and clean
You had a housemaid to clean your floor
But she won't help you out any more.

Do what the buglers command-
They're in the Army and not in a band-

This is the Army, Mister Brown
You and your baby went to town
She had you worried but this is war
And she won't worry you any more.

Above from copyist's MS. copy, Library of Congress, gift of Berlin family.

Alternate introductory verse from sheet music:

A bunch of frightened rookies were list'ning, filled with awe
They listened while a sergeant was laying down the law
They stood there at attention, their faces turning red
The sergeant looked them over, and this is what he said:

From "This Is The Army," all-soldier review, opened July 4, 1942, NYC.

The film raised $10 million for the Emergency Relief Fund. Irving Berlin donated all profits from the sheet music sales to the war effort.
The show toured the major theaters of war.