"I'll See You in C-U-B-A" (Billy Murray, 1920)

Prohibition in America was scorned from the start in popular culture--here's Irving Berlin's suggestion to thwart it with a bender in Havana.

The incomparable Irish tenor and stage star Billy Murray performs:

I'LL SEE YOU IN C-U-B-A

Not So Far From Here
There's a very lively atmosphere
Everybody's going there this year,
And there's a reason, the season
Opened last July,
Ever Since the U.S.A. went dry,
Everybody's going there and I'm going too.

REFRAIN:
I'm on my way to Cuba,
That's where I'm going,
Cuba, that's where I'll stay.
Cuba, where wine is flowing,
And where dark-eyed Stellas
Light their feller's panatellas,
Cuba, where all is happy,
Cuba, where all is gay,
Why don't you plan a wonderful trip to Havana?
Hop on a ship and I'll see you in C-U-B-A.

VERSE TWO:
Take a friend's advice,
Drinking in a cellar isn't nice,
Anybody who has got the price,
Should be a Cuban,
Have you been longing for the smile
That you haven't had for quite a while,
If you have then follow me and I'll show the way.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Billy
• Murray
• 1920
• Irving
• Berlin
• cuba
• c-u-b-a
• prohibition

[PolavisionRevival]

Turn on your ratings if you like. You'll get many high fives for this excellent transfer of the best Prohibition song of them all.

Thanks!

[RReady555]

Ha! Very glad you find it a fun number, too...

Best,

-RR

[RReady555]

Cuba was quite a playground in those days--though the Cubans probably had mixed feelings about the boozy influx. ;)

Best,

-RR

[bernadotete]

Thumbs up if you went here because of the episode 4 of Boardwalk Empire.

[Zakaria95M]

Yes, this plays as Al Capone enters the whore house in Chicago one evening during the beginning of season 1 episode 4

[IndianaDylan]

This is NOT Bill Murray. Bill Murray, the guy who played star roles in Ghostbusters and Garfield, looks different than this. Please do not call this impostor Bill Murray

[bobbobato]

I don't understand why Billy Murray was such a popular singer. His singing voice is terrible by any standard of music. I realize that the acoustic recording process made singing difficult, but that excuse isn't good enough. There were many good singers who recorded acoustically, such as Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, Enrico Caruso, and the Classic Female Blues performers.

Was his singing part of some other musical tradition that did not value good music as much as say, lyrics, tone, and energy?

[Buckmain]

This song is a banger of epic proportions

[Pbirv]

@bernadotete "Wanna see how I do business? Show your face in Atlantic City again.."

[Pbirv]

@AlanD96 And of course it gave us "Boardwalk Empire", which of course has this song on the soundtrack.

[IndianaDylan]

Who ya gunna call?

[mturynP]

The Austin Lounge Lizards' version isn't bad, either, but they omit the second verse, which I think ends with an actual punch-line.

[Odielman]

@bernadotete exactly the words I was going to say

[bernadotete]

@bernadotete Anyone interested in a .mp3 track of the tune ?