[Editor: A song by “Dryblower” Murphy about the visit of the American fleet to Australia in 1908. From the sheet music published circa 1924.]
“We’ve Got a Big Brother in America”
Written and Composed by
“Dryblower” Murphy.
Ship O’ war from Yankee land, anchor’d in the bay
Underneath the flag of Uncle Sam
Built of Yankee steel
Fighting top to keel
Yankee from the rudder to the ram
Johnathan is visiting the lonely Kangaroo
Lonely by the old Pacific Sea
But while his ships go by
We hear the warning cry
Keep the broad Pacific clean and free
CHORUS
We’ve a big brother in America
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
The same old blood, the same old speech
The same old songs are good enough for each,
We’ll all stand together boys
If the foe wants a flutter or a fuss
And we’re hanging out the sign, from the Leeuwin to the Line
This bit o’ the world belongs to us
We’ve us
All Australia welcomes here, Uncle Sam and ships
Better ships no Commodore commands
While his sturdy sons
Stand beside the guns
Guns that he has fashioned with his hands
Johnathan has stretch’d those hands across the shining sea
Old Glory waves the world his honored name
And what the Yank can do
The lusty Kangaroo
Should give himself a chance to do the same
CHORUS
We’ve a big brother in America
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
The same old blood, the same old speech
The same old songs are good enough for each,
We’ll all stand together boys
If the foe wants a flutter or a fuss
And we’re hanging out the sign, from the Leeuwin to the Line
This bit o’ the world belongs to us
We’ve us
Source:
We’ve Got a Big Brother in America (Uncle Sam) [sheet music] Melbourne: Allan & Co. [the sheet music is undated; however, the other songs in the same publication have copyright dates of 1923 and 1924]
Editor’s notes:
The song “We’ve Got a Big Brother in America” was written by “Dryblower” Murphy in 1908 for the visit of the American fleet to Australia in that year [see: We’ve Got a Big Brother in America”, The Sunday Times (Perth, WA), 22 February 1942, p. 1]
Leeuwin = Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia, the most south-westerly point of the Australian mainland
the Line = in the context of Western Australia, “the Line” is the state border or dividing line between WA and the rest of Australia; originally this was the border between New Holland (claimed by the Dutch) and New South Wales (claimed by the British) [for example, see: We’re hanging out the sign, from the Leeuwin to the Line: This bit of the world belongs to us!”, The Western Mail (Perth, WA), 12 August 1926, p. v of the pictorial section]
Old Glory = the flag of the United States of America (the flag is also known as “the Stars and Stripes”, “the Star-Spangled Banner”, and “the Red, White and Blue”)
[Editor: Corrected “Kangoroo” to “Kangaroo”.]
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