OCR Text |
Show Rebel Yell and Indian War Whoop Taboo to American Army Song Leaders in France "Organized Noise" Will Help Win the Var, Says Chrystal Brown Ideal Cheer Sought "Yips" and "Wows" Fail "Long, Long Trail" Real Song ot Our Army ,!r - - W v ., 1 CbjryUl Brown caught by photographer aa ho was leading a proup ef singing soldiers BY CHRYSTAL BROWN (Y. M. C. A. Song Loader.) 44RGANIZED NOISE" Is a tro-J tro-J mendous factor in winning any battle. Tho bunch that goes over-the top singing in unison or with, every man emitting the same yell has better esprit de corps than the crowd that simply makes all the noiso of any kind it can, each man for hlmsolr. Consider also the effect on tho enemy I An effort Is now being made to evolve the best possible yell for tho American army and have It I mado uniform throughout our forceB. The old "rebel yell" was a corker, but it's hard for some men to get it off right. Tho Indian war whoop is anothor good one and every man can make a real job of It, but it has the disadvantage of making a man clap his hand to his lips when he has better UBes for the hand.' "Yip, yips," "yow8," "wows' and "rays" have been tried with some success, but the perfect yoll has not been found. It la mainly up to us song leaders to locate it, for wo have so many chances to try them all out Every few dayB we got a new idea or hear a suggestion, and oven tho least promising is incu. If somo newspaper would start a contest to got the best proposal from tho general public, that also might help. In the meantime we fellows are hustling to make Undo Sam's army tho greatest band of group singers in the history of the world. MORE SONG LEADERS NEEDED The kind of man that generally dovelops Into the best song leader is a first class business man with a good head on his shoulders who has a liking for music. Ho doesn't need to know anything about music, in tho generally accepted meaning of musical knowledge. Primarily ho must be a man full of punch and pep, a good cheer loader, preferably prefer-ably also a good "kidder" and most important of all ho must enjoy en-joy the work. Never have I seen a successful soldier song leader who didn't get moro fun out of a "sing" than any other man present Becoming a soldier song leader is an entirely different process from learning how to head a choir or glee club. In the latter Instances the men have gathered together voluntarily for the purpose of singing, sing-ing, and therefore are interested before you start. It Is necessary to arouse tho soldier's interest for he has other things in mind generally gen-erally at the time you take hold of him. Ho may not care a rap about singing, but you must learn to make him do so. Another big difference is that the soldier song leader must learn to "eat dust" Ho must develop his wind so he can go along on big hikos, and he must got used to keeping himself aftop speed every minute he works throughout a long day, for the moment he lets his forcefulness sag he becomes totally SING AT BOXING SHOWS The bunch that puts tho moat into its singing is tho crowd at a big boxing tournament in camp. The men aro all keyed up by the excitement of the occasion and, when you lead them from the ring you don't have to beg thom. A boxing box-ing crowd generally wants "We're going to get tho Kaiser" first but a bit lator they always call for "The Long, Long Trail.'' That's the real heart song of tho army "The Long, Long Trail." This song was written more than a year before we got in the war and didn't attract any more atten. tion at tho time than a lot of other songs. But now it is coming into its own. Twenty years from now it will be remembered as tho heart song of the big war. For its type of song it is Juet as strong with tho Boldler aB "Over There" la for its type. It embodies the spirit of the day the boy going away on his noblo mission, later to come home perhaps to his wife and sweot-hoart sweot-hoart as no other present day song docB. The soldiers lovo overy word ot its veroe and every bar, of its music, i |