For my virgin clip, I’ve selected a recording by Huddie Leadbetter. “Lead Belly”, as he is better known, was discovered by famed musicologists John and Alan Lomax in 1933, while he was serving a sentence for attempted murder in the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Following his release, he enjoyed a successful career in New York in the 1940’s. But my focus here is less on the singer than the song.
It’s known by various titles: “Army Life,” “Gee Mom I Wanna Go Home,” or, as I always called it, “The Coffee in the Army.” I associate it with my late father who would sing it in the car during summer drives to the beach. Among the verses he knew, which probably date from his days as a World War II army private, are two variations I have not seen recorded elsewhere:
The doctors in the army, they say are mighty fine.
You tell them that your dyin’. They say, “Get back in line.”
Oh, I don’t want no more of army life.
Say Mom, I wanna go, hey Mom, I wanna go, oh Mom, I wanna go home.
The movies in the army, they say are mighty fine.
You ask for Beatty Grable. They give you Frankenstein.
Oh, I don’t want no more of army life.
Say Mom, I wanna go, hey Mom, I wanna go, oh Mom, I wanna go home.
According to a Wikipedia entry, the original version was sung by Canadian soldiers during World War II, who specified that they wanted to go “back to Ontario.” But the anthologist Jerry Silverman has classified it as a song from the World War I era. Perhaps it is difficult to pin down because, in the great folk song tradition, the lyrics keep evolving over time. Indeed, during the Iraq War, Dolly Parton released a version containing the lines:
The generals in the army don’t fight like all the rest.
You shoulda seen them fight to pin this medal on my chest.
But perhaps this process is drawing to a close.
Only now do I realize that among the more important elements of those childhood trips to the beach was the time spent in the car singing together (in voices not fit to be aired in public). Beyond the opportunity for family bonding, it provided a visceral link to at least a little bit of the popular music of the ’30’s and ’40’s. I don’t know to what extent children today are exposed to material of this kind.
Do families sing old standards in the car anymore? Is the musical heritage of the early 20th century (and late 20th century) being lost? What do you think?
The Dog wants to know.
I don’t know about singing on car trips anymore. When The BradynBynch went on a car trip to the Old West they sang songs in their car. Nowadays it’s probably less common because everyone has personal electronics. However, I can tell you that there are still young families and teenagers and twentysomethings who are still interested in folk music and dancing. I know because I see them and dance with them at weekend folk festivals and monthly contra dances in my area. These people are a minority of the general population, however. Be well!