He'd Have to Get Under – Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)

"He'd Have to Get Under – Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)" is one of the lengthier titles in the history of popular songs. The song was written in 1913, with music by Maurice Abrahams and lyrics by Grant Clarke and Edgar Leslie.

It was a hit for recording artists such as Al Jolson in 1913, Billy Murray in 1914, Bobby North in 1920, and it was revived by Bobby Horton in the Ken Burns documentary film Horatio's Drive (2003).

The title was essentially self-defining. The song poked fun at the trials and tribulations of the average young car owner of the 1910s, especially when he wanted to get down to some serious "sparking" with his female passenger:

He'd have to get under—get out and get under—to fix his little machine

He was just dying to cuddle his queen

But ev'ry minute

When he'd begin it

He'd have to get under—get out and get under—then he'd get back at the wheel

A dozen times they'd start to hug and kiss

And then the darned old engine, it would miss

And then he'd have to get under—get out and get under—and fix up his automobile.

External links

• Sheet music at Library of Congress
• Billy Murray's 1914 recording of the song