First World War.com - Vintage Audio - Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!

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Sheet music to "Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!" Vintage Audio: Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!
Updated - Saturday, 7 February, 2004

Reproduced below are the lyrics to the top-selling U.S. wartime song Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!, written by Ed Rose (lyrics) and Abe Olman (music) in 1917.

The song saw its debut in a stage show in the same year Follow Me as something of a novelty piece before taking on a popular life of its own.

The song was to subsequently enjoy renewed popularity in the 1940s at the hands of Glen Miller, the Andrews Sisters and Wee Bonnie Baker.

Click here to listen to a version of the song performed by Billy Murray and the American Quartet in 1917 (MP3 format 1,013kb).

Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!

Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
How you can love!
Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
Heavens above!
You make my sad heart jump with joy,
And when you're near I just
Can't sit still a minute.
I'm so, Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
Please tell me dear.
What makes me love you so?
You're not handsome, it's true,
But when I look at you,
I just, Oh, Johnny!
Oh, Johnny! Oh!

By 1918 the percentage of women to men working in Britain had risen to 37% from 24% at the start of the war.