"Over There" is a 1917 song popular with United States soldiers in both world wars. It was written by George M. Cohan during World War I. Notable early recordings include versions by Nora Bayes, Enrico Caruso, Billy Murray, and Charles King.
According to Michael Duffy of FirstWorldWar.com, "Cohan later recalled that the words and music to the song came to him while travelling by train from New Rochelle to New York shortly after the U.S. had declared war against Germany in April 1917."
This song, as well as "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", were popular patriotic songs during the First World War. On June 29, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded Cohan the Congressional Gold Medal for this and other songs.
It has been revived on various occasions also after WWII. As the specific country "over there" is not named, the words can serve as an exhortation for any sending of American troops to any foreign military intervention.
The slogan "The Yanks are Coming" is derived from this song, as is its negation "The Yanks are not Coming".
Read more about Over There: Lyrics, "The Yanks Are Not Coming"
Famous quotes containing the words over and/or there:
“I have seen it over and over, the same sea, the same,
slightly, indifferently swinging above the stones,
icily free above the stones,
above the stones and then the world.”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)
“Don’t say, don’t say there is no water.
That fountain is there among its scalloped
green and gray stones,
it is still there and always there....”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)