Historical Note | - however, there are newspaper accounts of performances as early as August 22. Threlkeld made reference to his authorship in a December 21, 1918, advertisement in The Billboard, but did not list the title among his publications for sale. Seidel altered the cover and back cover and added advertisements and slogans to the interior in two stages, forming two printings, both evidently before the armistice on November 11. During World War II a new copyright was taken out (January 7, 1943) by Isidor Seidel, of Chicago, for “Buy a Bond, Buy a Bond for Victory,” words and music credited to Dewey A. Seidel and Erle Threlkeld.
- A second edition was issued by Seidel Music, Indianapolis. Threlkeld (Erle & Leo) evidently sold the copyright and the plates to Seidel before October 18, when the Seidel publication was advertised on the back cover to Threlkeld’s “Till We Meet Again.” There “Buy a Bond” is specifically associated with the Fourth Liberty Loan Campaign, which began on September 28, 1918
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Musical Note | A vigorous march song, marked “marcia,” the music evokes bugle calls in general, with specific quotations and variations of Assembly, notably at the end of the verse, when voice and piano offer different variants simultaneously. Harmony and melody follow the conventions for a march, with syncopation in the verse and passing chromatic inflections throughout. |
Lyrics | Your country calls on you today, Buy a bond, buy a bond, buy a bond She needs your aid and you can help this way, Buy a bond, buy a bond, buy a bond, Now a liberty bond it is better than gold, it will save our great nation from suff’ring untold, Buy a bond, buy a bond, don’t delay, buy a bond today. Buy a bond, buy a bond, buy a bond, Help the boys across the pond, They are fighting there for you, Yes their dying for you too, Buy a bond, buy a bond, buy a bond, Help the boys across the sea, Far away in sunny France they take a hero’s chance, Buy a bond, buy a bond for liberty. Your President now sounds the call, Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, To do your duty, right in line you fall, Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, Buy a liberty bond that’s the right thing to do, Put your money at work for the red, white, and blue, Buy a bond, buy a bond, don’t delay, buy a bond today. |
Cover Description | - unsigned.
- superimposed on the cloud, below the Statue of Liberty, a photographic inset portrait of Erle Threlkeld. Red, orange, blue, and green on white
- Statue of liberty, center, rising through clouds with the four flags of the allies in the corners (America, France, England, Italy)
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