"When Tony Goes Over the Top"
by Billy Murray

Another in a long line of ethnic buffoonery for the vaudeville stage, "When Tony Goes Over the Top" is also another salvo in the broadsides against hyphenated-Americans. The principal is an Italian barber, a profession commonly, and laughingly, relegated to Italians, named Tony—another Italian stereotype. Barbers cut hair and when they do, they "go over the top"—yuck, yuck, rimshot. In the trenches of France, when an attack begins, the soldiers went "over the top," thus the pun. And Tony is an airman, you guessed it. In the song, Tony is associated with razors, and stilettos, all tools of the trade for Italian hoodlums, and garlic. "Garlic-eater" was a common epithet with which to spite Italian-Americans. The song is sung in a thick faux-Italian accent and tells of Tony, the Italian hero who will kill the Kaiser with his garlic breath or his stiletto. He is not, we are assured, "afraid to die." Tony is styled a "fighting wop" and, as a member of the air corps, he becomes an ace with five victories. The singer doesn't know what to call a pilot, but he is clearly proud that Tony is called "Italian Ace" (think: Italian ice) who fights like "some great big Irish Cop (unaccountable praise in the ethnic strife between Irish and Italian-Americans), Some wop!." The song ends with the singer, showing off his Italian accent saying, "With a rop-a spagett' and a bigg-a stilleto, he knocka all Germany dead, you betta." If this is praise, how should we style ridicule?

Listen: Streaming Real Audio | Windows Media Audio | mp3