The nation is sad as can be;
A message came over the sea.
A thousand more, who sailed from our shore,
Have gone to eternity.
The Statue of Liberty high
Must now have a tear in her eye.
I think it's a shame--
Some one is to blame,
But all we can do is just sigh!
Some of us lost a true sweetheart;
Some of us lost a dear dad;
Some lost their mothers, sisters, and brothers;
Some lost the best friends they had.
It's time they were stopping this warfare
If women and children must drown.
Many brave hearts went to sleep in the deep
When the Lusitania went down.
A lesson to all it should be
When we feel like crossing the sea--
American ships that sail from our slips
Are safer for you and me.
A Yankee can go anywhere
As long as Old Glory is there!
Although they were warned,
The warning they scorned,
And now we must cry in despair.
\"When the Lusitania Went Down\" is by Charles McCarron and Nathaniel Vincent, two songwriters who enjoyed modest success in the industry known as Tin Pan Alley.
It was published in June 1915 by Leo Feist and recorded by only one phonograph company, Columbia. No time was wasted. The recording session was on May 20, 1915, a mere 13 days after the tragic event.
The record did not sell well, which I judge by its rarity. The disc is not as easy to find as many records of 1915.
This is the only 1915 record about the Lusitania, a British-operated ship. A German submarine sank it when the large vessel was in the Irish Sea near Queenstown, Ireland.
It was close to completing a journey to Liverpool when struck, sinking in about 20 minutes. Only one torpedo was needed. The initial blast set off a violent secondary explosion.
Why no destroyer escort during this risky part of the voyage? The British welcomed sympathy given after the event though I'm not saying England's government wanted the ship to go down.
Almost 1,200 people died (1,195, to be exact), with the deaths of 128 Americans fueling resentment.
What happened in the Irish Sea on May 7 changed attitudes in the United States from neutral to hostile towards Germany. This was an unarmed passenger vessel! Merchant ships are understandably at risk--not the Lusitania, which enjoyed fame for speed, in 1907 crossing the Atlantic in under five days (the first time in history any ship did that!).
German authorities placed newspaper warnings before the Lusitania sailed from New York on May 1, 1915, but warnings were ignored--such ships go unmolested during wartime.
At the time this was not typical subject matter for Tin Pan Alley.
No other record companies in 1915--not Victor, not Edison, not Pathe--issued a record like this to the American market. This song foreshadowed where popular music would go. In 1917, after America declared war, popular music gave itself to the patriotic cause, many titles reflecting what was happening in France and Belgium, some promising revenge on the Kaiser. It was a new trend in popular music.
The baritone featured here is called Herbert Stuart on the label, but his real name is Albert Wiederhold. He made records under his real name but used \"Herbert Stuart\" for material in the \"popular\" line--or record companies put \"Herbert Stuart\" on labels and in promotional literature. The singer may have had no say in the matter. The real name, Albert Wiederhold, was used for material considered more serious.
He used \"Herbert Stuart\" for Columbia as early as December 19, 1914, for an Irish tune titled \"Daughters of Erin\" (Columbia A1676). The name Albert Wiederhold would have been viewed as too German for an Irish ditty or, indeed, for this song about the Lusitania.
But he did not change his recording name due to growing anti-German sentiments. He used \"Herbert Stuart\" earlier, after all. He or a manager chose \"Herbert Stuart\" (upon the advice of the record company?) since it is less of a mouthful than \"Albert Wiederhold.\"
Changing names to something simpler was standard in the entertainment world.
Highly trained singers did not want their real names on \"popular\" material, worried about the impact on concert engagements. The record industry was still in its infancy, and having one's name on a record did not help an ambitious singer unless that name was included in an expensive series reserved for opera singers such as Enrico Caruso (who enjoyed \"Red Seal\" status).
He was a trained baritone who would have preferred singing an opera aria, not a topical song about a ship sinking.
Now for some info about the two songwriters. Charles McCarron (1891-1919) is credited on \"Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me\" and \"Fido Is a Hot Dog Now\"--not huge hits but known to some record collectors today.
Nathaniel Vincent (1889-1979) earned royalties with \"I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles,\" \"When the Bloom is on the Sage,\" \"When Old Bill Bailey Plays the Ukulele,\" \"Pucker Up and Whistle,\" \"That Railroad Rag,\" and others. I cite titles somewhat remembered even today by collectors of old 78 rpm discs.
