Good-Bye Broadway, Hello France, 1917
Billy Baskette (Composer); C. Francis Reisner and Benny Davis (Lyricists); Rosenbaum Studios (Illustrator); Leo Feist, Inc., New York, NY (Publisher)
Song Sheet, lithograph on paper
On loan from the Joseph M. Bruccoli Great War Collection, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina
Following America’s entrance in the Great War, the tune of the nation shifted from the likes of I Didn’t Raise My Boy to be a Soldier to this wildly popular hit featured in the 1917 musical revue The Passing Show. The song refers to America’s indebtedness to France for the help of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette during the American Revolutionary War. It positions the Great War as an opportunity to repay France through the power of the American Expeditionary Forces, shown in the cover art as bridging the divide of the Atlantic.