| "Army Life" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Lead Belly | |
| Released | 1944 |
| Genre | Novelty song |
| Length | 1:48 |
| Songwriter(s) | Traditional, Gitz Rice credited |
"Gee, Mom, I Want to Go Home" (also known as "I Don't Want No More of Army Life") is a traditional, humorous song satirizing life in the Armed Forces. Each verse has two lines relating what recruits are told, followed by an exaggerated description of the fact. For example:
- The biscuits in the Army
- They say are mighty fine,
- One rolled off the table
- And killed a pal of mine.
The original song was sung by Canadian soldiers during World War II. With original chorus
- "Oh, I don't want no more of army life
- Gee ma, I wanna go
- back to Ontario
- Gee ma, I wanna go ho_o_ome!"
The song occurs in several variations, the lyrics being adapted for the different branches of the Armed Forces, and it has been transformed into a camp song as well. [1]
Appearances in popular culture
- The song appeared in the 1943 play Winged Victory by Moss Hart. [2]
- The song, presumably sung by British Commonwealth soldiers, can be heard during "The Desert: North Africa", the eighth episode of the documentary series The World at War.
- Folk singer Lead Belly performed the song (as "Gee, But I Want to Go Home" or " Army Life" [3] ) on several 1940s recordings.
- The song was released as a single, titled "I Don't Want No More of Army Life", in 1950 by Texas Jim Robertson [4]
- The character of Dino Manelli sings two stanzas in issue #58 (Cover date September 1968) of the World War II-set comic book series Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.
- The song was performed in the 1977 M*A*S*H episode "Movie Tonight" (season 5 episode 22), with lyrics adapted to the characters and situations in the show. [5] Father Mulcahy, Hawkeye and B.J., Colonel Potter, Klinger, Hot Lips, Radar and four of the nurses all sing a verse each. Frank Burns tries to sing a rather hostile verse after everyone has finished the song, but is glared down.
- Manny Singer ( Ray Liotta) sings a verse to his despondent daughter shortly after the death of her mother at the beginning of the 1994 film Corrina, Corrina.
- A variant of the song is sung in the 2020 film Monster Hunter.
M*A*S*H version
There are six different verses in the M*A*S*H version, all of them reworded and each sung by a different member or members of the cast, including one by Hawkeye and B.J. Hunnicutt: "O the surgeons in the army, they say are mighty bright; we work on soldiers throughout the day and nurses through the night," a reference to the surgeons' womanizing habits. A verse sung by Klinger went like this: "O some guys like the army; I think that it's a mess; if it's so damned terrific, how come I wear a dress?" (Klinger's failure to get a psychiatric discharge from the army by dressing in drag was a recurring gag in the series).
References
- ^ Bronner, Simon J. (30 May 1988). American Children's Folklore. August House. ISBN 9780874830682. Retrieved 30 May 2021 – via Google Books.
- ^ Hart, Moss (30 June 2005). Winged Victory. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 9781419169847. Retrieved 30 May 2021 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Images for Leadbelly - Easy Rider: Leadbelly Legacy Volume Four". Discogs.com. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
-
^ Inc, Nielsen Business Media (4 November 1950).
"Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 May 2021 – via Google Books.
{{ cite web}}:|last=has generic name ( help) - ^ "M*A*S*H FAQ". Faqs.org. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
External links
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