Corns For My Country

Performed by Andrews Sisters
Recorded c.1944
From the film "Hollywood Canteen" (1944)
Written by Dick Charles, Jean Barry, Leah Worth

I’m gettin’ corns for my Country
At the Hollywood Canteen
The hardest workin’ junior hostess
You’ve ever seen
I’m doin’ my bit down here for Uncle Sam
I’m a patriotic jitterbug
Yeah, yeah, that’s what I am

I’m gettin’ corns for my country,
you should see the pounds fly
I’m gettin’ down the waistline
and I don’t even try
I don’t need a Duberry
or a Westmore course
‘Cos my weight’s been taken over
by the Army Air Force

We’re not petite as sweet Joan Leslie,
but then we never mind
When those GI’s knock the South,
we're glad that we’re the healthy kind
The way those cowboys from the prairie
expect us to sashay
I think I’d rather two-step
with their horses any day

We’re gettin’ corns for our Country,
though the goin’ is tough
When we think we can’t go on,
we find we can’t get enough
So if you hear of a soldier,
sailor or marine
Tell him to look us up
at the Hollywood Canteen

I used to be aesthetic,
they say, oh yes I was, really I was
I loved the drama, arts and the ballet
But the theatre guild came over and said,
“Forget about Pavlova ”
Learn to cut a rug,
So now we’re jitterbugs

I’m gettin’ corns for my Country,
so I’m really all in
In a week from now we’ll be here
with our usual vim
So if you hail from the Bronx,
Des Moines or Aberdeen
Come down and ask for us
at the Hollywood Canteen

[lyrics transcribed by listening. Send corrections via the contact link on the main page]