It's Not Your Nationality 1916

by James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 5 Oct 2011
2011

Ev'rybody has a native land,
in the North, South, East or West,
And it's only right
your native land should be
the place you love the best.
Now it makes no diff'rence what you are,
don't wait for fame to come,
just go and get it,
and they'll give you credit
no matter where you're from:

It's not your nationality
it's what you do
it's not your personality,
that always pulls you through.
Bismark made his mark
in Germany, we know,
and Georgie Cohan
was a Yankee in the growin'
but he made a bunch of dough.
Just think of Rockefeller
and what he can buy,
he started from the cellar
but he climbed away up high,
So if you've got the spirit
never mind your name
Folks will hear it
if you play the game,
It's not your nationality
it's simply you!

It's not your nationality
it's what you do
sometimes a technicality
will bring great fame to you.
Bryan kept tryin'
he never gave up hope,
and young Marconi
had a scheme that sounded phoney
but he upset all the dope.
Just think of Henry Ford
and his old Fliver bus,
we laugh, but all the dough he's got
he took away from us,
so never mind your breeding
keep a level head,
face the world
prepare to knock 'em dead
it's not your nationality
it's simply you!

Ev'ry day you'll hear somebody brag
of the land where they belong,
and they knock all other nationalities
but take my tip, they're wrong.
In the end the man that plugs along
is the fellow that succeeds
the whole creation is a great big nation,
They judge you by your deeds:

It's not your nationality
it's what you do
it's not your personality,
that always pulls you through.
Bismark made his mark
in Germany, we know,
and Georgie Cohan
was a Yankee in the growin'
but he made a bunch of dough.
Just think of Rockefeller
and what he can buy,
he started from the cellar
but he climbed away up high,
So if you've got the spirit
never mind your name
Folks will hear it
if you play the game,
It's not your nationality
it's simply you!

It's not your nationality
it's what you do
sometimes a technicality
will bring great fame to you.
Bryan kept tryin'
he never gave up hope,
and young Marconi
had a scheme that sounded phoney
but he upset all the dope.
Just think of Henry Ford
and his old Fliver bus,
we laugh, but all the dough he's got
he took away from us,
so never mind your breeding
keep a level head,
face the world
prepare to knock 'em dead
it's not your nationality
it's simply you!

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
It's Not Your Nationality 1916
by Howard Johnson & Joe McCarthy
© MCMXVI by Leo Feist Inc.  N.Y.
*
sequence & karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Wednesday 5 October 2011 at 16.45
in association with Veda Meyer-Castens
*