"They Were All Out of Step But Jim" is an American

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 ...

war song A war song is a musical composition that relates to war, or a society's attitudes towards war. They may be pro-war, anti-war, or simply a description of everyday life during war times. It is possible to classify these songs by historical conflic ...

written by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

. It rose to popularity in 1918 when released by Billy Murray, charting at No. 3 in the United States.

Description

The song depicts a mother and father of a soldier gloating to their friends after seeing their son marching. They declare their joy in the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

, oblivious to the humor of the song's title:

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.

The chorus is delivered from the perspective of the soldier's parents rather than that of a more typical war song narrator like the soldier himself, making it stand out from other songs and aiding its popularity. The song's use of humor instead of sentimentality also made it distinctive to audiences. The lyrics are in line with the musical trend of ethnic humor in early World War I war songs, as Jimmy's unaware mother is made distinctly Irish by her mention to

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

and the stereotype of heavy drinking during celebration. The cover art shows three women watching soldiers march by, with one soldier waving to one of the women. The lyrics and cover art are in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

Sheet music and recordings

The song was composed and written by

. It was published by Waterson, Berlin & Snyder Co in

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 ...

in 1918. Various printings of the score featured the following singers: Miss Queenie Williams, The Dream Girls, and Mabelle Sherman & Arthur Littry.Paas, John Roger (2014). America Sings of War: American Sheet Music from World War I. Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 220, . It was also recorded by Connie Farber.

''Chaimke Sheli''

This song was unintentionally the inspiration behind Dan Almagor’s song ''Chaimke Sheli'' (Hebrew: חַיִּימְקֶה שֶׁלִּי ‘My Chaimke’). Almagor has explained that in 1961 he attended a lecture by Simon Halkin at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, when Halkin offhandedly mentioned a song with this premise. Almagor asked him for more details during the break, but Halkin remembered it very vaguely and assumed it was about the mother of a

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

soldier instead. Thus, for nearly six months after the lecture, Almagor fervently looked for the song, until Moshe Wilensky told him he could simply write one of his own based on the same premise. The song was performed by Rachel Attas in 1964.

Description

Sheet music and recordings

''Chaimke Sheli''

See also

References

Further reading