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| I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a SoldierPeereless Quartet |
Writer(s): Alfred Bryan (words), Al Piantadosi (music) (see lyrics here) First Charted: March 1, 1915 Peak: 14 PM, 18 GA, 18 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.26 video, -- streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:“The song that proved to be a rallying cry for the Pacifist movement in the USA was ‘I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier,’ a top selling record in the Spring of 1915 for both Morton Harvey who had hit the top with ‘I Want to Go Back to Michigan (Down on The Farm)’ over Christmas 1914 and…the four part harmony group The Peerless Quartette.” SM “This was not a song that The Peerless Quartette were well suited to. They sounded cheerful and the orchestra backing them also was far too happy for the subject matter, unlike Morton Harvey who added a certain gravitas to the lyrics which were anti-war in the extreme: ‘Ten million soldiers to the war have gone who may never return again / Ten million mothers’ hearts must break for the ones who died in vain.’” SM “The song was still popular even after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania with the deaths of 128 American citizens in early May that was one of the turning points against American isolationism and remaining out of the Great War, letting Europe tear itself apart without the US needing to be involved. By the Spring of 1918 both versions of the song, both Morton Harvey’s and The Peerless Quartette’s were deleted from their record company catalogues, the public feeling against the song turning as sour as the US put its military might behind the Allies and sent an extra four million men” SM to war. The numbers in the song were fall short from the actual “Allied strength was nearly 43 million fighting men with 25 million belligerents fighting with the Germans.” SM Resources:
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First posted 5/14/2025. |
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