A World War I song from 1918
Words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Jimmy’s mother went to see her son
Marching along on parade
In his uniform and with his gun
What a lovely picture he made
She came home that ev’ning
Filled up with delight
And to all the neighbors
She would yell with all her might
Chorus
“Did you see my little Jimmy marching
With the soldiers up the avenue?
There was Jimmy just as stiff as starch
Like his Daddy on the seventeenth of March
Did you notice all the lovely ladies
Casting their eyes on him?
Away he went, To live in a tent
Over in France with his regiment
Were you there, and tell me, did you notice?
They were all out of step but Jim”
2. That night little Jimmy’s father stood
Buying the drinks for the crowd
You could tell that he was feeling good
He was talking terribly loud
Twenty times he treated
My! but he was dry
When his glass was empty,
He would treat again and cry
Chorus
“Did you see my little Jimmy marching,
With the soldiers up the avenue?
There was Jimmy just as stiff as starch,
Like his Daddy on the seventeenth of March.
Did you notice all the lovely ladies,
Casting their eyes on him?
It made me glad, to gaze at the lad;
Lord help the Kaiser if he’s like his Dad.
Were you there, and tell me, did you notice?
They were all out of step but Jim”
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: