I'll Make a Man of You

DESCRIPTION: "The army and the navy need attention..." but, says the singer, "I've an army and a navy of my own." "On Sunday I walk out with a soldier, On Monday I'm taken by a tar... if you'll only take the shilling, I'll make a man of every one of you"
AUTHOR: Words: Arthur Wimperis / Music: Herman FInck (source: Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Revue, "The Passing Show," according to Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver)
KEYWORDS: soldier love sex navy
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Arthur-WhenThisBloodyWarIsOver, pp. 9-10, "I'll Make a Man of You" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: John Mullen, _The Show Must Go On! Popular Song in Britain during the First World War_, French edition 2012; English edition, Ashgate, 2015, pp. 154-155, "(no title)" (1 long excerpt)

NOTES [77 words]: According to John Mullen, The Show Must Go On! Popular Song in Britain during the First World War, French edition 2012; English edition, Ashgate, 2015, p. 154, this was an example of the music hall songs intended to induce men of fighting age to join the military during World War I. But I can't help but think, given the appalling casualty rates in the war, if the girl wasn't trying to ensure that at least one was still around at the end of the war.... - RBW
Last updated in version 6.8
File: AWTBW009

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.