(1915)
Lyrics by Alfred Bryan
Music by Al Piantadosi
La canzone "I Did Not Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier" divenne popolare tra chi non voleva che gli Stati Uniti entrassero nella Prima Guerra Mondiale, tuttavia quando gli Stati Uniti nel '17 entranono in guerra Harvey fu costretto a smettere di registrare perché la canzone che gli aveva dato un po' di notorietà era considerata antipatriottica
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The antiwar protest song "I Did Not Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier" in 1915 became popular with people who wished for America to stay out of World War I. Soon after America did intervene in the war in 1917, Harvey stopped recording, as the sentiments of that song were no longer popular and were considered unpatriotic. Many documentaries about World War I contain the song, however, and it is still on this song that Harvey's voice is most heard.
nel libro "Bollettino di guerra" di Edlef Köppen,a pagina 41 (edizione Oscar Mondadori, 2009, nella traduzione di Luca Vitali) viene citata questa canzone in questo modo:
"A New York, in tutti i varietà, nei music-hall, per le strade e nei saloon viene cantata una canzone di protesta contro la guerra, che tradotta nella nostra lingua fa all'incirca cos':
Non ho allevato mio figlio per farne un soldato,
l'ho cresciuto perché sia vanto e gioia della mia vecchiaia,
chi ha il coraggio di mettergli in mano un'arma,
perché uccida i figli cari a un'altra madre?
E' giunto il momento di gettare le armi,
non potrebbe mai più esserci alcuna guerra
se lo gridassero tutte le mamme del mondo:
non ho cresciuto mio figlio per farne un soldato! "
"I Didn’t Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier 2010" - Michael Weston King
Lyrics by Alfred Bryan, 1915
Music by Michael Weston King
Having decided in 2010 to make an album of re-worked protest songs, I spent 6 months researching a lot of old music. It is remarkable, and worrying, how many old, old songs with such a powerful message are still relevant today. It seems we have learned so little in the past 100 years. This song is a real case in point. The lyrics date back to 1915, written in protest by Alfred Bryan, at America's involvement in WW1. As the bodies continue to be flown home from Iraq and Afghanistan and unloaded on English soil, near the village of Wooton Basset,
these words, for countless parents, sadly still ring true.
Lyrics by Alfred Bryan
Music by Al Piantadosi
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The antiwar protest song "I Did Not Raise My Boy To Be A Soldier" in 1915 became popular with people who wished for America to stay out of World War I. Soon after America did intervene in the war in 1917, Harvey stopped recording, as the sentiments of that song were no longer popular and were considered unpatriotic. Many documentaries about World War I contain the song, however, and it is still on this song that Harvey's voice is most heard.
Sheet Music Cover / Copertina dello Spartito