ReSounding the Archives

Comedy and Entertainment For and By Soldiers

While some types of art and music that come out during times of war receive heavy documentation and analysis such as propagandist pro-war music, rebellious anti-war music, and songs about love and being homesick, others do not receive as much attention. One major category that is often overlooked is comedy. Comedic songs and shows were quite common as a way of helping soldiers relax and forget about the war for a time, and some comedic war songs were revived when they became relevant again during another war.

While many of the performances put on for soldiers were by civilians, some of them were written and performed by soldiers, mostly for soldiers. However, some performances were put on show for civilians as well, as parts of fundraisers for the army, such as Irving Berlin’s musical Yip Yip Yaphank during World War I. The success of this musical would lead to him writing another musical in World War II, This Is The Army, bringing back some of the first’s songs, including its most popular one, the comedic song “Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning”. These musicals would end up being popular enough to be performed multiple times in a variety of theaters, with the latter even going overseas and being turned into a movie. These shows, and many others like them, along with other forms of comedic entertainment like small handbooks full of relatable comic strips for the soldiers reading them, helped improve soldier morale throughout the war.

Written by

Student Image: 

Student Bio: 

Taylor Smith is a third-year student at the University of Virginia studying music composition and sound studies. He is pleased to be involved in the ReSounding the Archives project this spring.