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"Over There"
1917 sheet music cover with Nora Bayes
Song
Written	April 7, 1917
Published	June 1917
Released	July 13, 1917
Genre	War song American march Tin Pan Alley
Songwriter	George M. Cohan
Audio sample
"Over There" sung in 1917 by Billy Murray file help

"Over There" is a 1917 war song written by George M. Cohan that was popular with the United States military and the American public during World War I and World War II. Written shortly after the American entry into World War I, "Over There" is a patriotic motivational song meant to galvanize American men to enlist in the American Expeditionary Forces and fight the Central Powers. The song is best remembered for a line in its chorus: "The Yanks are coming."^[1]

According to the Library of Congress, Cohan wrote "Over There" during his commute to work on April 7, 1917,^[2] a day after the U.S. officially abandoned its policy of non-interventionism and joined the Allied Powers. Its opening verse is derived from "Johnny, Get Your Gun", an 1886 song written by Monroe Rosenfeld, while its rhythm was based on a three-note bugle call.^[3]

Cohan personally chose Nora Bayes to premiere "Over There" in June 1917,^[4] but the Peerless Quartet recorded it first on June 6 with Columbia Records.^[5] Bayes's rendition was released on July 13.^[3] Though early tests with soldiers saw indifferent reception, the song was popular among the civilian public. Other versions recorded by Billy Murray, the American Quartet, and Arthur Fields were also made. President Woodrow Wilson described it as "a genuine inspiration to all American manhood". By the end of 1918, over 2 million copies of sheet music were sold.^[3]

Though written and intended for World War I, the song has been revived on various occasions during and after World War II.^[1] It was not heavily used during the Vietnam War, but it regained some popularity in the 21st century after the September 11 attacks and throughout the war on terror.^[6] In June 2026, CBS News included the song in its list of the 250 essential American songs of the past 250 years.^[7]

As sung by early 20th-century recording artist Billy Murray:

Verse 1

Johnny,^[a] get your gun, get your gun, get your gun.
Take it on the run, on the run, on the run.
Hear them calling you and me,
Every Son of Liberty.
Hurry right away, no delay, go today.
Make your daddy glad to have had such a lad.
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
To be proud her boy's in line.

Verse 2

Johnny, get your gun, get your gun, get your gun.
Johnny, show the Hun you're a son of a gun.
Hoist the flag and let her fly;
Yankee Doodle,^[b] do or die.
Pack your little kit, show your grit, do your bit.
Yankee^[c] to the ranks from the towns and the tanks.^[d]
Make your mother proud of you
And the old red, white, and blue.^[e]

Chorus

Over there, over there,
Send the word, send the word over there
That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming,
The drums rum-tumming everywhere.
So prepare, say a prayer,
Send the word, send the word to beware –
We'll be over, we're coming over,
And we won't come back till it's over, over there.

• Since 2009, UK financial services comparison website Go.Compare has used an adapted version of the song for their adverts, sung by Wynne Evans.^[9][10]
• The song provides the introduction to the Kanonenfieber song "The Yankee Division March" (with Trevor Strnad).^[11]
• In the video game Hell Let Loose, set in World War II, the song plays when the United States win a match.^[12]

• List of best-selling sheet music

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Over There.

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Over There (1917)

• Nora Bayes recording July 13, 1917, via U.S. Library of Congress, National Jukebox
• Vintage Audio: Over There
• Rendition by Billy Murray and quartet
• Library of Congress essay on recording on the National Recording Registry.
• Sheet music for "Over There", Leo Feist, Inc., 1917.
• Over There from Patriotic Melodies