You'll Have to Put Him to Sleep with the Marseillaise and Wake Him Up with a Oo-La-La is a World War I song written in 1918. Andrew B. Sterling wrote the lyrics, and Harry Von Tilzer composed the music. The song was produced by the Harry Von Tizler Publishing Company in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. On the cover of the sheet music is a soldier kissing a woman.
The song was written for both voice and piano.
The lyrics relay the message to American girls that US soldiers have learned "a lot of things in France," and in order to keep men interested they should adopt French mannerisms and learn how to speak French. As the title suggests, American girls should learn
La Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...
, the French national anthem. The chorus reads:
:''You'll have to do your little parlez vous''
:''You'll have to coo just like your French girls do''
:''You'll have to tease in French''
:''You'll have to squeeze in French''
:''You'll have to la la la la''
:''Because when you get through with Yankee Doodle Doo''
:''You'll have to put him to sleep with the Marseillaise''
:''And wake him up with a Oo-la-la''
References
{{reflist
Songs about France
Songs about language
Songs about soldiers
1918 songs
Songs of World War I
Songs with music by Harry Von Tilzer
Songs with lyrics by Andrew B. Sterling