A popular song from 1901.
Words by Rida Young Johnson.
Music by Ellis R. Ephraim.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. In England, Tommy Atkins
Plants his foot upon the ground
And all his heathen enemies
They tremble at the sound
And he marches right straight forward
And he never looks around
Oh! Tommy, he’s a bully boy at marching
In China see the chinky chink
He wobbles on the street
Like a bloomin’ yellow lobster on a spree
With a flying out of pigtails
And a muchness mix of feet
But the Goose-step is the thing in Germany
CHORUS
Oh! the Goose-step is the walk
Where you neither glide nor stalk
‘Tis a leggy laggy limber lamber loose step
The Yankee boy is bred
To a firm and martial tread
But in Germany they always do the goose step
Oh! the goose step is the walk
And the goose step is the talk
That leggy, laggy limber lamber loose step
I’d rather march you see
In my dear own country
For in Germany you’ve got to do the goose step
2. The French patters forward
With a stunning little prance
For that cunning style of marching
Is quite popular in France
But he’s not afraid of fighting
And he leads his foe a dance
Though the Frenchy is so comical in marching
In Spain the gallant soldier
He marches like a crab
One step forward, two steps backward do you see?
And the Yankee follows wildly
Always ready for to grab
But the Goose-step is the thing in Germany
3. The dear girl cultivates a walk
Just like a kangaroo
I don’t see how they do it
I think it’s queer don’t you?
It cultivates their muscles
Where no muscles ever grew
Oh! the dear girl is a lovely sight when walking
But we all fall in behind her
When we chance to have the luck
For in spite of all she’s sweet as she can be
And we’d love the darling creature
If she waddled like a duck
Though the Goose-step is the thing in Germany