"Good Morning Mr. Zip-Zip-Zip" is a

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

song published as

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

in 1918 by Leo Feist Inc. of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was one of the most popular tunes with

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

soldiers during the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

era. The song appears to salute American soldiers, although some have suggested that it has a more cynical meaning, in that it criticizes their transformation into an identical, conforming mass.

Background and composition

According to the sheet music, it was "written around a

Fort Niagara Fort Niagara, also known as Old Fort Niagara, is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great L ...

fragment" by Robert Lloyd, "Army song leader." Sheet music was available for piano, band, orchestra, and male quartette as well as for talking machine or player piano. In 1918, both

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

(VI18510) and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

(A-2530) issued recordings of the song by

Arthur Fields Arthur Fields (né Abraham Finkelstein; August 6, 1888—March 29, 1953) was an American baritone and songwriter. Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Abraham Finkelstein, Fields grew up mainly in Utica, New York. He became a ...

and the Peerless Quartet. The musical score was reprinted in a war edition.

Lyric

We come from ev'ry quarter,
From North, South, East and West,
To clear the way to freedom
For the land we love the best.
We've left our occupations
and home, so far and dear,
But when the going's rather rough,
We raise this song in cheer: horus: repeat twicebr> Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip,
With your hair cut just as short as mine,
Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip,
You're surely looking fine!
Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust,
If the

Camels A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide ...

don't get you,
The Fatimas must,
Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip,
With your hair cut just as short as,
your hair cut just as short as,
your hair cut just as short as mine. You see them on the highway,
You meet them down the pike,
In olive drab and khaki
Are soldiers on the hike;
And as the column passes,
The word goes down the line,
Good morning, Mister Zip-Zip-Zip,
You're surely looking fine. epeat chorus twice The reference to "Camels" and "Fatimas" (fa-tee'-mas) is to popular brands of

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s of the time.

Cover versions and use in pop culture

During World War II, a historian lamenting that there were no popular patriotic songs asked "Where in this war is 'Mr Zip-Zip-Zip'?".p.20 Hicken, Victor ''American Fighting Man'' Collier Macmillan Ltd (October 1969) Film critic

Richard Schickel Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' from 1965–2010, and also wrote for '' ...

titled his autobiographical account of his childhood ''Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip: Movies, Memory, and World War II''. It was sung (in part) in John Cassavetes' film ''

Husbands (film) ''Husbands'' is a 1970 American comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes. It stars Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, and Cassavetes as three middle class men in the throes of a midlife crisis following the death of a close friend. Dis ...

.'' It was parodied by the Washington DC group Bill Holland and Rent's Due as "Good Mornin' Mr. Snip Snip Snip." The chorus of the

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

song "Barbershop" contains the lines "Good morning, Mister snip snip snip/With your hair cut just as short as mine."

References

External links

Audio: http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/zipzipzip.htm {{authority control 1918 songs Songs about soldiers Songs of World War I