Teddy Powell and his orchestra. 1940s/George Rinhart/Getty Images
Qalam strives to explore the interpenetration of different cultures. To this end, we have decided to launch a series of playlists in which music mediates between different geographical and ideological spaces. Our first playlist is called ‘West to East: One Hundred Best Songs’. It will be updated several times a week, and its curation will focus on how Western pop culture has reflected the realities of the East, whether they are musical, geographical, religious, or political. (The terms ‘West’ and ‘East’ should be taken as broadly and arbitrarily as possible.)
This American campfire song from the Pacific War era was first recorded in New York in December 1941. Considering that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7 of the same year, such promptness could subtly suggest support for the conspiracy theory that American authorities were aware of the impending attack. Regardless, the overly brave hero of the song hopes to return home by April, a somewhat optimistic sentiment considering that it was only in June 1942 that the U.S. achieved a decisive victory over the Japanese fleet at the Battle of Midway.
As American military activity expanded globally in 1950, the song received a sequel, 'Goodbye Maria (I'm Off To Korea),' dedicated to the Korean War. In the early 2000s, the original composition was reissued on a compilation of American war songs titled 'Hitler & Hell' from the then-trendy Munich label, Trikont.