From “JACK O’LANTERN,” 1917.
A 1917 popular song.
Words and Music by Irving Berlin.
Cover Art by Albert W. Barbelle.
Copyright ©13 Oct 1917.
Sheet Music from the collection of Michael Deatz.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. I lik-a you, Marie
I like-a you, Tony
We gonna mak-a marriage soon
Mak-a da nice-a honey moon
After I marry you
What are you gonna do?
Chorus:
I’ll tak-a you back with me
Back to sunny Italy
That’s where I would like to be
In the old country
Across the sea
No more you make the organ grind
I leave the org’ behind
I’ll cook spaghetti
That’s very good, Eddie
The nice Italian kind
We’ll rais-a da family
They will look like you and me
How many we have, Marie?
One, two or three
Plenty enough for me
What will we do with the monk
They’ll never let him pass?
We’ll give the monk to Missus Vernon Cas’
And sail back to sunny Italy
2. We’ll have a little wop
Someone to call you “pop”
He’ll look-a like his daddy did
Gee! but he’ll be a homely kid
We’ll call-a him Tony
Maybe he’ll be a she
Chorus:
I’ll tak-a you back with me
Back to sunny Italy
That’s where I would like to be
In the old country
Across the sea
No more you make the organ grind
I leave the org’ behind
I’ll cook spaghetti
That’s very good, Eddie
The nice Italian kind
We’ll tell-a da family
They must never cross the sea
The money in this country
Is not so free
As it’s supposed to be
We’ll say the barber shop business
It never pays
Everyone here they use the safety raz’
So we came to sunny Italy