I'll Make a Man of You

"I'll Make a Man of You"
Song
Written	1914
Composer(s)	Arthur Wimperis
Lyricist(s)	Herman Finck

"I'll Make a Man of You" is a World War I recruiting song that was sung across the country in hopes of rallying young men to enlist in the military. It is sung from a flirtatious young woman's perspective of how she dates military men in order to turn them into better soldiers.^[1] It was written and composed by Arthur Wimperis and Herman Finck in 1914. The song was also showcased in Frank Lloyd's Cavalcade, and in the musical and film Oh, What a Lovely War!.^[2]

Lyrics

The Army and the Navy need attention
The outlook isn't healthy you'll admit
But I've a perfect dream of a new recruiting scheme
Which I really think is absolutely it
If only other girls would do as I do
I believe that we could manage it alone
For I turn all suitors from me, but the Sailor and the Tommy
I've an Army and a Navy of my own

On Sunday I walk out with a Soldier
Monday I'm taken by a Tar
Tuesday I'm out with a baby Boy Scout
On Wednesday a Hussar
On Thursday I gang out wi' a Scottie
On Friday the Captain of the crew
But on Saturday I'm willing if you'll only take the shilling
To make a man of any one of you

I teach the tenderfoot to face the powder
That gives an added lustre to my skin
And I show the raw recruit how to give a chaste salute
So when I'm presenting arms, he's falling in
It makes you almost proud to be a woman
When you make a strapping soldier of a kid
And he says, "You put me through it and I didn't want to do it
But you went and made me love you, so I did!"

On Sunday I walk out with a Bosun
On Monday a Rifleman in green
On Tuesday I choose a Sub in the Blues
On Wednesday a Marine
On Thursday a Terrier from Tooting
On Friday a Midshipman or two
But on Saturday I'm willing if you'll only take the shilling
To make a man of any one of you!^[2]

References