A popular song from 1914
Words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Down below, down below
Sat the Devil talking to his son
Who wanted to go up above, up above
He cried “It’s getting too warm
For me down here and so
I’m going up on Earth
Where I can have a little fun”
The Devil simply shook his head
And answered his son.
Chorus
Stay down here where you belong
The folks who live above you
Don’t know right from wrong
To please their kings they’ve all gone out to war
And not a one of them knows
What he’s fighting for
‘Way up above they say
That I’m the Devil, and I’m bad
Kings up there are bigger Devils than your dad
They’re breaking the hearts of mothers
Making butchers out of brothers
You’ll find more hell up there
Than there is down below
- Kings up there, they don’t care
For the mothers who must stay at home
Their sorrows to bear
Stay at home, don’t you roam,
Although it’s warm down below
You’ll find it’s warmer up there
If e’er you went up there, my son
I know you’d be surprised
You’d find a lot of people who are not civilized
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: