Gee, Mom, I Want to Go Home

"Gee, Mom, I Want to Go Home" (also known as "I Don't Want No More of Army Life") is a traditional, humorous song satirizing life in the Armed Forces. Each verse has two lines relating what recruits are told, followed by an exaggerated description of the fact. For example:

The biscuits in the Army

They say are mighty fine,

One rolled off the table

And killed a pal of mine.

The original song was sung by Canadian soldiers during World War II. With original chorus

"Oh, I don't want no more of army life

Gee ma, I wanna go

back to Ontario

Gee ma, I wanna go ho_o_ome!"

The song occurs in several variations, the lyrics being adapted for the different branches of the Armed Forces, and it has been transformed into a camp song as well.^[1]

Appearances in popular culture

• The song appeared in the 1943 play Winged Victory by Moss Hart.^[2]
• Folk singer Lead Belly performed the song (as "Gee, But I Want to Go Home" or "Army Life" ^[3] ) on several 1940s recordings.
• The song was released as a single, titled "I Don't Want No More of Army Life", in 1950 by Texas Jim Robertson ^[4]
• The song was performed in the 1977 M*A*S*H episode "Movie Tonight", in Season 5, with lyrics adapted to the characters and situations in the show.^[5]

Hawkeye and B.J., Colonel Potter, Klinger, Hotlips, Radar and 4 new nurses all sing a verse each. Franks Burns tries to sing a verse after everyone has finished the song.

• Manny Singer (Ray Liotta) sings a verse to his despondent daughter shortly after the death of her mother at the beginning of the 1994 film Corrina, Corrina.
• The song was quoted in the RiffTrax for the 2011 film Thor.

References

• Straight and Level: Growing Up in the 40s by Jack C. Botts

External links

• M*A*S*H Version