So Long, Mom (A Song For World War III)

This year, we've been celebrating

The hundredth anniversary of the Civil War

And the fiftieth anniversary

Of the beginning of World War I

And the twentieth anniversary

Of the end of World War II

So, all in all, it's been a good year

For the war buffs

And a number of LPs and television specials

Have come out

Capitalizing on all this nostalgia

With, with particular emphasis

On the songs of the various wars

I feel that if any songs are gonna

Come out of World War III

We'd better start writing them now

I have one here

You might call it "a bit of pre-nostalgia"

This is the song that some of the boys sang

As they went bravely off to World War III

So long, Mom

I'm off to drop the bomb

So don't wait up for me

But, while you swelter

Down there in your shelter

You can see me on your TV

While we're attacking frontally

Watch Brinkley and Huntley

Describing contrapuntally

The cities we have lost

No need for you to miss a minute

Of the agonizing holocaust

Yeah!

Little Johnny Jones

He was a U.S. pilot

And no shrinking violet was he

He was mighty proud

When World War III was declared

He wasn't scared – no, sirree!

And this is what he said on

His way to Armageddon

So long, Mom

I'm off to drop the bomb

So don't wait up for me

But though I may roam

I'll come back to my home

Although it may be

A pile of debris

Remember, Mommy

I'm off the get a commie

So send me a salami

And try to smile somehow

I'll look for you when the war is over

An hour and a half from now