You Great Big Handsome Marine

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"You Great Big Handsome Marine"
You great big handsome marine.jpg
Song
Released1918
Songwriter(s) Composer: Harold Dixon
Lyricist: Harold Dixon, I. Chapman
Producer(s) Dixon-Lane Publishers

"You Great Big Handsome Marine" is a World War I era song released in 1918. Most sources solely credit Harold Dixon as both the composer and lyricist, as it is listed on the sheet music. [1] [2] [3] Other sources give composer credit to Dixon and lyricist credit to I. Chapman. The song was published by Dixon-Lane Publishers of St. Louis, Missouri. On the cover is a soldier standing at attention. A battleship is behind him, and planes are flying overhead. [4] [5] The song was written for both voice and piano. [2] [4]

The song praises Marines, and even goes as far as calling them, "the Flower of our Nation." The chorus is as follows:

Oh you great big handsome Marine,
You are the niftiest fellow I've seen,
You are the Nation's pride and joy
Wonderful boy, Wonderful boy
Our hats are off to you,
You are a soldier of the Sea
First to fight for truth and liberty,
If Washington were living too,
He'd be mighty proud of you,
Go over the top!
Go over the top!
You great big handsome Marine

The sheet music can be found at the Library of Congress and Pritzker Military Museum & Library. [6]

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References

  1. Vogel, Frederick G. (1995). World War I Songs: A History and Dictionary of Popular American Patriotic Tunes, with Over 300 Complete Lyrics. p. 282. ISBN   0-89950-952-5.
  2. 1 2 "You Great Big Handsome Marine". JScholarship. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  3. "You Great Big Handsome Marine". Johns Hopkins University: The Lester S. Levy Sheet Music Collection. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  4. 1 2 "You great big handsome Marine". Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  5. Parker, Bernard S. (2007). World War I Sheet Music. Vol. 2. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 805. ISBN   978-0-7864-2799-4.
  6. You great big handsome Marine. OCLC WorldCat. OCLC   25691867 . Retrieved 26 January 2016.