Vintage Audio - Hello Central! Give Me No Man's Land
Penned in the wake of America's entry into World War One, How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm? (After They've Seen Paree) was written by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis with music by Walter Donaldson, and was published in 1918. A huge popular success at the time the song was performed by a great many artists in the immediate post-war years.
Reproduced below are the lyrics to the song. Use the player above to listen to a version performed by Harry Fay in 1918.
How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em
Down on the Farm
(After They've Seen Paree)
Reuben, Reuben, I've been
thinking
Said his wifey dear
Now that all is peaceful and calm
The boys will soon be back on the farm
Mister Reuben started winking and slowly rubbed his chin
He pulled his chair up close to mother
And he asked her with a grin
Chorus (sung twice after
each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
They'll never want to see a rake or plow
And who the deuce can parleyvous a cow?
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
Rueben, Rueben, you're
mistaken
Said his wifey dear
Once a farmer, always a jay
And farmers always stick to the hay
Mother Reuben, I'm not fakin
Tho you may think it strange
But wine and women play the mischief
With a boy who's loose with change
Chorus (sung twice after
each verse):
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'
How ya gonna keep 'em away from Broadway
Jazzin around and paintin' the town
How ya gonna keep 'em away from harm, that's a mystery
Imagine Reuben when he meets his Pa
He'll kiss his cheek and holler "OO-LA-LA!
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm
After they've seen Paree'?
A sandbag was a sack filled with earth from which defences were built.
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