First World War.com - Vintage Audio

First World War.com - A multimedia history of world war one

Song sheet to "K-K-K-Katy" Vintage Audio: K-K-K-Katy
Updated - Saturday, 2 August, 2003

Billed as "The Sensational Stammering Song Success Sung by the Soldiers and Sailors", K-K-K-Katy was written by Geoffrey O'Hara and published in 1918.

Hugely popular it was regarded as something of a 'goodbye' song. The 'Katy' in the song was Katherine Richardson of Kingston, and was composed at Richardson's house in 1917 by O'Hara (although curiously Katherine did not actually possess a stutter).

The song was first played at a garden party fund-raiser for the Red Cross in Collins Bay on Lake Ontario. O'Hara himself was from Chatham in Ontario and taught music at Ontario University. He lived until the age of 84, passing away on 27 January 1967.

Click here to listen to a version of the song performed by Billy Murray in 1918 (MP3 format 1,288kb)

K-K-K-Katy

Jimmy was a soldier brave and bold,
Katy was a maid with hair of gold,
Like an act of fate,
Kate was standing at the gate,
Watching all the boys while on parade.
Kate smiled, with a twinkle in her eye,
Jim said, m-m-m-meet ya by and by.
That night at eight,
Jim was at the garden gate,
Stuttering this song to K-K-K-Kate.

K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy,
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore;
When the m-m-m-moon shines,
Over the c-c-c-cowshed,
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door.
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy,
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore;
When the m-m-m-moon shines,
Over the c-c-c-cowshed,
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door.

No one ever looked so nice and neat,
No one could be just as cute and sweet,
That's what Jimmy thought,
When the wedding ring he bought,
Soon he'll go to France, the foe to meet.
Jimmy thought he'd like to take a chance,
See if he could make the Kaiser dance,
Stepping to a tune,
All about the silv'ry moon,
This is what they'll hear in far off France.

A "Dixie" (from the Hindi degci) was an army cooking pot.