Well thousands of folks back east, they say, Are leaving home most every day; And they're beating the hot, old, dusty way to the California line. Across the desert sands they roll, A-getting' out of that old Dust Bowl. And they think they're going to a sugar bowl, And here is what they find. The police at the port of entry say, "You're number fourteen thousand for today."
Chorus If you ain't got the do-re-mi, boys, If you ain't got the do-re-mi, Well, you'd better go back to beatiful Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee. California is a Garden of Eden, It's a paradise to live in or see, But, believe it or not, you won't find it so hot, If you ain't got the do-re-mi.
Well, if you want to buy you a home or farm, That deal nobody harm; Or take your vacations by the mountains or the sea, Don't swap your old cow for a car, You'd better stay right where you are. Well, you'd better take this little tip from me, Because I look through the want ads every day, And the headlines on the paper always say:
Well thousands of folks back east, they say, Are leaving home most every day; And they're beating the hot, old, dusty way to the California line. Across the desert sands they roll, A-getting' out of that old Dust Bowl. And they think they're going to a sugar bowl, And here is what they find. The police at the port of entry say, "You're number fourteen thousand for today."
Chorus If you ain't got the do-re-mi, boys, If you ain't got the do-re-mi, Well, you'd better go back to beatiful Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, Kansas, Tennessee. California is a Garden of Eden, It's a paradise to live in or see, But, believe it or not, you won't find it so hot, If you ain't got the do-re-mi.
Well, if you want to buy you a home or farm, That deal nobody harm; Or take your vacations by the mountains or the sea, Don't swap your old cow for a car, You'd better stay right where you are. Well, you'd better take this little tip from me, Because I look through the want ads every day, And the headlines on the paper always say:
Have you heard of that ship called the good Reuben James? And the hard fighting men both of honor and fame? She flew the Stars and Stripes of the land of the free, But tonight she's in her grave on the bottom of the sea.
Chorus Tell me, what were their names, tell me, what were their names? Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James? What were their names, tell me, what were their names? The men that went down on the good Reuben James?
Well, a hundred men went down in that dark watery grave; When that good ship went down only forty-four were saved. It was the last day of October that we saved the forty-four From the cold ocean waters off that north Iceland shore.
Repeat Chorus
It was there in the dark of that uncertain night That we watched for the U-boats and we waited for the fight; Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared, And they laid the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor.
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Now tonight there are lights in our country so bright; In the farms and the cities they are telling of this fight. And now the mighty battleships will steam the bounding main And remember the name of that good Reuben James.
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Well, many years have passed since those brave men are gone, And those cold ocean waters now are still and they're calm. Well, many years have passed, but I still wonder why The worst of men must fight and the best of men must die.
