When the gray shadows creep
And the world is asleep,
In the still of the night
Baby creeps down a flight.
First she looks all around
Without making a sound;
The baby toddles up to the telephone
And whispers in a baby tone:
"Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land,
My daddy's there, my mamma told me;
She tip-toed off to bed
After my prayers were said;
Don't ring when you get the number,
Or you'll disturb mamma's slumber.
I'm afraid to stand here at the 'phone
'Cause I'm alone.
So won't you hurry;
I want to know why mamma starts to weep
When I say, 'Now I lay me down to sleep';
Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land."
Through the curtains of night
Comes a beautiful light,
And a sunshine that beams
Finds a baby in dreams;
Mamma looks in to see
Where her darling can be;
She finds her baby still in her slumber deep,
A-whisp'ring while she's fast alseep:
"Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land,
My daddy's there, my mamma told me;
She tip-toed off to bed
After my prayers were said;
Don't ring when you get the number,
Or you'll disturb mamma's slumber.
I'm afraid to stand here at the 'phone
'Cause I'm alone.
So won't you hurry;
I want to know why mamma starts to weep
When I say, 'Now I lay me down to sleep';
Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land."
And the world is asleep,
In the still of the night
Baby creeps down a flight.
First she looks all around
Without making a sound;
The baby toddles up to the telephone
And whispers in a baby tone:
"Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land,
My daddy's there, my mamma told me;
She tip-toed off to bed
After my prayers were said;
Don't ring when you get the number,
Or you'll disturb mamma's slumber.
I'm afraid to stand here at the 'phone
'Cause I'm alone.
So won't you hurry;
I want to know why mamma starts to weep
When I say, 'Now I lay me down to sleep';
Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land."
Through the curtains of night
Comes a beautiful light,
And a sunshine that beams
Finds a baby in dreams;
Mamma looks in to see
Where her darling can be;
She finds her baby still in her slumber deep,
A-whisp'ring while she's fast alseep:
"Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land,
My daddy's there, my mamma told me;
She tip-toed off to bed
After my prayers were said;
Don't ring when you get the number,
Or you'll disturb mamma's slumber.
I'm afraid to stand here at the 'phone
'Cause I'm alone.
So won't you hurry;
I want to know why mamma starts to weep
When I say, 'Now I lay me down to sleep';
Hello, Central! Give me No Man's Land."
Contributed by Alessandro - 2010/3/19 - 15:27
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Written by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young.
Music by Jean Schwartz.
From the Broadway’s musical “Sinbad”.
Una classica canzone “strappalacrime”, come usava all’epoca.
Benchè anche “Sinbad”, come tutte le produzioni di Broadway di allora, fosse orientata a sostegno dello “sforzo bellico”, e per quanto lo stesso Al Jolson abbia nella sua carriera vestito spesso il ruolo di entertainer per le truppe, certo non sfugge la diversità di questa canzone, dove un bambino, che non capisce perché sua madre sia tanto sconvolta, cerca di chiamare il papà che si trova in guerra sul fronte occidentale, nella “No Man's Land”….