Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 24 May 20 - 07:47 PM

pg 45, Aloha Jigpoha

HALLELUJAH!

Lying in the gutter, all guzzled up on beer,
Bubble in my whiskers, I thought my end was near,
Then came the glorious Army, and I was born again --
Glory, glory, hallelujah, tra-lala, amen, tra-la-la, amen!

Chorus:
Hallelujah . . . hallelujah!
Drop a nickel on the drum, drop an nickel on the drum!
Hallelujah . . . hallelujah!
Drop a nickel on the drum, and you'll be saved.

When I was sweet sixteen, I was the village belle,
The way I danced and carried on would send me straight to hell;
I rode a tandem bicycle, my ankles were in view,
I joined the glorious Army and I was born anew.

Happy, happy day ! We are S-A-V-E-D, H-A-P-P-Y to be F-R-double-E !
We're joined to the glorious Army, and we are born again!

This songbook was put together by Navy linguistic teams and mimeographed in 1945.

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 08 Jun 23 - 07:01 PM

Mr. Menchen's April Americana reported that Mr. Billy Sunday has announced
an intention to have himself skinned after death, the skin to furnish
a drum for use in street Revival Parades throughout the United States.
A prize of fifteen dollars, offered for the poem most nearly resembling what
Mr. Vachel Lindsay might write on hearing such a drum beaten in Springfield,
Illinois, has been awarded to C.R.S.

THE WINNING PARODY
THE SUNDAY DRUM

Sinners in the tabernacle, sinners in the temple;
Brighten the corner where you are!
Billy had sagacity, Billy wasn't Semple;
Brighten the corner where you are
Billy said, "When I'm dead, and can't fight sin,
I'll still save sinners if you'll save my skin;
Promise me to use it for a big bass drum,
So I can keep a-calling, 'Come, sinner, come!'
Drunks from the Country Club, hard-boiled and saft;
Bull-necked heelers, mouldy with graft,
Night-club hostesses, bridge-fiends pale,
Bandid, hit-run, gold-digging frail,
Sneeing old infidels, I groaned to save--
I want to keep a-calling when I'm in my grave!"
Brighten the corner where you are!

Fine old saints clled it eccentricity;
Brighten the corner where you are!
But bless my sould, it was grand publicity!
Brighten the corner where you are!
Billy's soul a-calling from the big, bass drum;
Marching down Main Street, see the sinners come!
Marching through the villages, all through the land,
Shouting salvation with the Sunday band!
Rising and swelling like the tide of Fundy,
Boom! Boom! Boom! Hear the hide of Sunday!
Big voiced Rodeheaver: shout and sing;
Tambourine and drum go Boom-jing-jing!
Bad boys mocking as the voices ring:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Put a nickel on the drum, put a nickel on the drum;
Hallelujah! Halleluja!
Put a nickel on the drum and you'll be saved!
Bootleggers, hypocrites, bums from the jail,
Swing along, singers, to the sawdust trail;
Listen to the drum-beat, echoing afar--
Bighten the corner where you are!

The Saturday Review of Literature May 19, 1928. Relevant text in bold.

See online here:

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Saturday_Review_of_Literature/oZsjAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22nickel+on+the+drum%22+OR+%22nickel+in+the+drum%22&pg=PA892&printsec=frontcover

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Lighter
Date: 09 Jun 23 - 02:04 PM

Reportedly sung in 1940 by members of U.S. Amy Air Corps Flying School Class of Forty-A. (Spelling, line divisions, etc., sic.

https://archive.org/details/1985souvenirsongbookgetzcollectionno-105/page/n1/mode/2up?q=%22pretzels+in+my+whiskers%22
   
               OH - NOW I AM a KAYDET
          Tune - Throw a Nickel on the Drum

I WAS LYING IN THE GUTTER,
ALL COVERED UP WITH BEER.
WITH PRETZELS IN MY WHISKERS,
I KNEW MY END WAS NEAR.
THEN CAME THE GLORIOUS ARMY AND SAVED ME FROM THE HEARSE.
NOW EVERYBODY STRAIN A GUT
AND SING ANOTHER VERSE.

CHORUS

SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH THROW A NICKEL ON THE DRUM,
TAKE A QUARTER ON THE RUN.
SING HALLELUJAH, HALELUJAH
THROW A NICKEL ON THE DRUM AND YOU'LL BE SAVED.

OH IT'S G- L - O - R - Y
I AM S-A-V-E-D
H-A-P-P-Y
TO BE F - R - DOUBLE - E
V-I-C-T-O-R-Y
FROM THE WAYS OF S - I - N
GLORY, GLORY HALLELUJAH TRA-LA-LA AMEN.

NEW CHORUS

SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH THROW A NICKEL ON THE STUMP, JUST TO SAVE A KAY-DETS RUMP. SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH THROW A NICKEL ON THE STUMP, AND YOU'LL BE SAVED.

FOR NOW I AM A KAYDET A-LEARNIN* HOW 10 FLY.

MY GLORIOUS SALVATION SHALL LIFT ME TO THE SKY.

THE ARMY IS MY SAVIOUR FROM THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW WAY, THEY PAY ME SEVENTY-FIVE A MONTH AND TAKE IT ALL AWAY.

ANOTHER NEW CHORUS

SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH
THROW A NICKEL ON THE GRASS
JUST TO SAVE A PILOT'S ( — -)
SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH
THROW A NICKEL ON THE GRASS AND YOU - LL - BE - SAVED.

NEW CHORUS

SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH THROW A NICKEL ON THE STUMP,
JUST TO SAVE A KAY-DETS RUMP.
SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH THROW A NICKEL ON THE STUMP,
AND YOU'LL BE SAVED.

FOR NOW I AM A KAYDET A-LEARNIN' HOW TO FLY.
MY GLORIOUS SALVATION SHALL LIFT ME TO THE SKY.
THE ARMY IS MY SAVIOUR FROM THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW WAY,
THEY PAY ME SEVENTY-FIVE A MONTH AND TAKE IT ALL AWAY.

ANOTHER NEW CHORUS

SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH
THROW A NICKEL ON THE GRASS JUST TO SAVE A PILOT'S ( — -)
SING HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH
THROW A NICKEL ON THE GRASS AND YOU - LL - BE - SAVED.

O(ther versions have the more common "bust a gut.")


William Wallrich collected this version in the Army Air Forces during World War I:

                FIGHTER PILOT'S HYMN

Laying in the gutter,
Covered al over with beer,
Pretzels in my whiskers,
I thought the end was near.
When along came the Air Force
And saved me from the hearse.
Now everybody get a drink
And sing another verse.

Chorus:

Sing hallelujah! Sing hallelujah!
Throw a nickel on the grass,
Save a fighter pilot's brass. [sic
Sing hallelujah! Sing hallelujah!
Throw a nickel on the grass,
And you'll be saved.

I was rolling down the runway,
Headed for a ditch,
I looked down at the quadrant,
My God, I'm in high pitch.
I shoved the throttle forward,
And nosed into the air --
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
How did I get there?

Chorus.

I flew my traffic pattern,
I thought I flew it right,
I turned onto the final --
My God, I racked it tight.
The ship began to shudder,
The engine began to wheeze,
Major ________! Major______! Major____!
Spin instructions please!

Wallrich ("Air Force Airs," 1957) also includes a text almost the same as the Navy "village belle" version above.

Air Force versions elaborating on Wallrich's flying stanzas while dropping the pretzels stanza began appearing during the Korean War, all with the "nickel on the grass" chorus.

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Lighter
Date: 09 Jun 23 - 02:23 PM

The tune of the stanzas (not the choruses) is a lot like that of "Peeping Through the Knothole in Grandpa's Wooden Leg."

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Lighter
Date: 10 Jun 23 - 11:29 AM

I can't believe I typed "World War I."

Of course it was World War II! There's no evidence of the song's existence as long ago as 1918.

Hast maks wast.

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 07:47 PM

Under the torches of the soap-box speakers, with
tambourines and drums of the Salvation Army for
marching tune, moved this battered rearguard of the
city's army. "Only a nickel on the drum . . . Are you
saved Sister, are you saved? . . . I am washed in the
blood of the Lamb . . . Just a dame, lady, for a bed
to-night...

1929. The Good Red Bricks by Mary Synon

See here: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Good_Red_Bricks/3TZHAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22nickel%20on%20the%20drum%22&pg=PA266&printsec=frontcover


The Salvation Army has been the butt of three folksongs: "Away Away
with Rum by Gum", "Throw a Nickel on the Drum", and the rare "Sister Anna
Carry the Banner". Perhaps all related to to the original "Salvation Army, Oh!" (1882)
(see here and here).

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 10:12 PM

Put a nickel on the drum
Put a nickel on the drum
Put a nickel on the drum
And you'll be saved

Put a nickel on the drum
Just to save some lousy bum
Put a nickel on the drum
And you'll be saved

August 31, 1960. Transcribed from the singing of Jean Redpath.
Field recording by Arthur Argo.


Listen online: https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/86360?l=en

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 19 Apr 25 - 10:43 PM

Salvation Army Song

If you want to go to heaven when you die, when you die
If you want to go to heaven when you die, when you die
Just grab a little bonnet with Salvation Army on it.
If you want to go to heaven when you die.

Come and join us
Come and join us
Come and join our happy band!
Come and join us
Come and join us
Come and join our happy band!

Will you please put a penny on the old tin drum
Will you please put a penny on the old tin drum
We only wantta panna to buy enough for Anna
If you want to go to heaven when you die.

Posted May 22, 2009 to Youtube. Sung by an octogenarian. The tune
used is the same used for the WWI song "If You Want the Old Battalion
We Know Where They Are (Barbed Wire)".


Listen online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4saJQylzgCs

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 08:49 AM

From Liverpool

Please put a penny on the drum, on the drum,
Please put a penny on the drum, on the drum.
We only need a tanner to buy a new pianner
So please put a penny on the drum

Posted by Jim Carroll on October 20, 2012 to the Salvation Army comic song thread.


See here: https://mudcat.org/detail_pf.cfm?messages__Message_ID=3422966

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Lighter
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 08:56 AM

Oscar Brand recorded (and presumably penned) a Salvation Army song on one of his "Bawdy Songs" albums in the early '60s. It used the "Save a Fighter Pilot" tune.

All I remember is the first two lines:

"They came marching down our ally like a bunch of Queen's Marines,
A-playing "hallelujah!" on thei drums and tambourines."

IIRC, it used the "dirty bum" chorus.

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 10:09 AM

Penny on the Drum

Will you please put a penny on the drum, (Boom Boom)
Will you please put a penny on the drum, (Boom Boom)
We only want a tanner to buy a new pianner, so please put a penny on the drum.
Come and join us, come and join us, come and join our happy throng, come and join us, come and join us, come and sing our happy song.

Repeat...

1950s(?). Website is dedicated to memories of Butlin's. Other Butlin's is a UK-based chain of family holiday resorts with three main locations in England: Bognor Regis, Minehead, and Skegness.


See here: https://www.butlins-memories.com/other/songs.htm

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 10:24 AM

Since the raise in fare on the Har-
mony Line, some of the commuters are
thinking of donning the Blue Cap with
a Red Band around it, and stationing
themselves at the corner of Fifth St.,
and Lawrence Ave. They will hold
services there daily and the singing
will consist of the song "Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Put a Penny on the Drum
and Be Saved." They hope in this
way to eke out enough of the golden
sheckles to pay the increase in fare.

December 12, 1919. The Shelby Beacon. Vol. VI, No. 35. p.25. Ellwood City, Pa.


See here: https://books.google.com/books?id=wtwcAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA34-PA25&dq=%22put+a+penny+on+the+drum%22

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 11:17 AM

SALVATION ARMY

CHORUS: Salvation Army
Salvation Army
Put a nickel in the drum
Save another drunken bum
Salvation Army
Salvation Army
Put a nickel in the drum and you'll be saved.

1. Down at our bar, all the waitresses wear grass skirts. (BOO!)
But there's plenty of lawnmowers around. (YEA!)

2. Down at our bar, all the waitresses wear skirts down to the floor. (BOO!)
But they're made of Saran Wrap. (YEA!)

3. Down at our bar, they just threw all the beer into the river (BOO!)
Swim call! (YEA!)

4. Down at our bar, all the waitresses wear tin skirts. (BOO!)
But all the men have can openers. (YEA!)

5. Down at our bar, the bar is only 3 feet wide. (BOO!)
But it's 4 miles long (YEA!)

6. Down at our bar, you can't take the waitresses home. (BOO!)
They take you home (YEA!)

7. Down at our bar, you can't sleep with the waitresses. (BOO!)
They don't let you sleep. (YEA!)

8. Down at our bar, the ABC board says we can't drink any more. (BOO!).
They also said we can't drink any less. (YEA!)

9. Down at our bar, we only have one mattress on the floor. (BOO!)
But it goes from wall to wall. (YEA!)

10. Down at our bar, the first rule is no fucking on the dance floor. (BOO!)
The second rule is no dancing on the fuck floor. (YEA!)

ca 1982. The Complete and Official Unexpergated [sic] Roadtrip Songbook. p.28. Undated. No location.


Download here: Unexpergated Roadtrip Songbook

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Lighter
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 11:26 AM

Herald Statesman (Yonkers, N.Y.) (Apr. 5, 1923):

"Salvation Army Special - 'Drop a Nickel on the Drum and You'll be Saved.'"

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Jack Horntip
Date: 20 Apr 25 - 11:27 AM

THE SALVATION ARMY MARCH

Lyin' in the gutter
Covered all over with beer,
Pretzels in my whiskers,
I thought the end was near,
When along came the glorious army
And saved me from the hearse,
And we all burst a gut
And sang another verse,
Salvation Army, Salvation Army
Put a nickel in the drum
Save another drunken bum.
Salvation Army, Salvation Army,
Put a nickel in the drum and save
a soul.
I SAVED A SOUL!

1950s. The Unoffical [sic] College Song Book. p.8.


Download here: Unoffical College Song Book

Subject: RE: Origins: Salvation Army/Throw a Nickel on the Drum
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 03 May 25 - 11:33 AM

Come come come!
Put your ha'pennies on the drum
We're only 11 pence ha'penny off a bob!

Salvation Army free from sin
Tried to go heaven in a corn beef tin
Corned beef tin was too small
So the salvation Army couldn't go at all!

Sally Army sell fish
Three ha'pence a dish!