| Title | America Never Took Water |
| Alternative Title | Cover, p. 2, top: America Never Took Water / And America Never Will |
| Composer | - Cunningham, Paul
- Edwards, Gus
- Brennan, J. [John] Keirn
|
| Lyricist | - Cunningham, Paul
- Edwards, Gus
- Brennan, J. [John] Keirn
|
| Publisher | M. Witmark & Sons |
| Place of Publication | New York (N.Y.) |
| Year of Publication | 1919 |
| Date of Copyright | 1919-03-07 |
| Physical Description | 1 score, voice and piano ([1], 2-3, [1] p.) |
| Comment | The eighteenth amendment to the Constitution was officially ratified on January 16, 1919, and this song was probably written shortly afterwards. Because the topic was so immediate, Witmark rushed it into production and promotion, It enjoyed short-lived but intense popularity, primarily in vaudeville; interest waned after March 1919, as enforcement of the Wartime Prohibition Act—effectively the first step to prohibition—approached. After July, with that act in place and total prohibition to come six months later, the song quickly receded from view. |
| Historical Note | - Belle Baker introduced this song on February 10, 1919, over three weeks before copyright was registered. Promoted by a full-page advertisement in The New York Clipper February 19, by the end of the month it had been taken up by dozens of headliners, including Sophie Tucker, Eva Tanguay, and Ed Morton. Enthusiasm continued through March, when Gus Edwards featured the song in his new revue, but it waned rapidly after the start of April. Witmark copyrighted mechanical rights on March 12, in anticipation of a March recording by Irving Kaufman (released by Aeolian Vocalion) at the start of May and an April Rythmodik piano roll played by Donald Makay.
- This is the second variant of the second of three printings, distinguished only by front and back covers. Witmark also copyrighted an arrangement for voice and orchestra by George J. Trinkhaus on March 17, an arrangement for full orchestra by William Schultz on May 7, and an arrangement for band by T. M. Taylor on August 12.
|
| Musical Note | A typical novelty one- or two-step in 2/4, animated by pervasive mild syncopation and many chromatic inflections; a ritard and fermata at the climax, with an ossia high note at the end. |
| Subject - Topic | - Humorous songs.
- Novelty songs.
- Veterans -- United States -- Songs and music.
- Prohibition -- Songs and music.
- Popular music -- United States -- 1911-1920.
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Songs and music.
|
| Lyrics | - [refrain 2] That America never took water, / So why should she take it now. / England gave us Ale and Porter, / To drink their wines the French have taught us how. / Old Jack and Jill took water, / That's why they took a spill, / The same thing's apt to happen to this famous drinking bill, / For America never took water, / And America never will!
- [verse 2] One fighting Yank said, "If such is the case, / This is no place then for me! / I'm going back again, back o'er the sea, / Where I can live happily." / His comrades said, "before you start to go, / It seems to us it's time you ought to know. /
- [refrain 1] Why America never took water, / So why should she take it now. / England gave us Ale and Porter, / To drink their wines the French have taught us how. / Of water in the trenches, We surely had our fill, / So we can't understand why you should hand it to us still, / For America never took water, / And America never will!
- [verse 1] Slowly but surely a transport of joy, / Docked at her pier up the bay. / "Tell us the news old pal, we've been away!" / That's what each boy seemed to say; / When someone said the country's going dry, / They listened then they all began to cry.
|
| Musical Genre | Novelty |
| Repository | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Sousa Archives and Center for American Music |
| Cover Description | Photo inset of Belle Baker, framed by a chain and anchors, seagulls above. Blue and gray on white; unsigned. |
| Back Cover Description | In a simple border, text and sample: My Rosary for You (© 1916 06 20). |
| Interior Description | Plate numbers, pp. 2, 3, BR: M.W.&Sons 15953-2 |
| Performance Medium | Voice and piano. |
| Original Location | - Series 2, Box 12, Folder 5
- Record Series 12/9/96
|
| Local Identifier | 2014_12996_053 |
| Collection Title | James Edward Myers Sheet Music Collection, 1836-1986 |
| Collection | James Edward Myers World War I Sheet Music Collection |
Supplementary Document
