Arthur Fields "When I Send You A Picture Of Berlin" on Pathé 20413 (1918) World War I song

When I Send You a Picture of Berlin (You'll Know It's Over, "Over There")
Written in 1918.
Song by Frank Fay and Dave Dreyer.
Johnny Johnson feeling fit
Uniform and army kit
Johnny was a cam'ra fiend
Of that trip had often dreamed
Sweetheart crying at the pier
Said "I'm proud of you my dear"
Now you'll realize your dreams
Taking pictures of those scenes
Said John that's what I'll do
And I'll send them home to you
When I send you a picture of London
Then you'll know I've landed safely "Over There"
When I've send you a snapshot of Paris
You'll know I'm ready to do and dare (I'll do my share)
You'll know I'm thinking about you
When I send you my photo all alone
But when I send you a picture of Berlin
You'll know it's over, "Over There" I'm coming home
Sweetheart waving at the pier
Said I'm proud of you my dear
Dried her tears and heaved a sigh
Said he'll come back, "bye and bye"
There are million at the pier more like him
Full of vim in fighting trim
Smiling when they sail away
Our debt to France they're glad to pay
We'll miss them all at home
But there's truth in Johnny's poem.
Arthur Fields sings "When I Send You A Picture Of Berlin" on Pathé 20413, issued in 1918 as the fighting in World War I was close to ending.
The baritone recorded many songs of a topical nature. Stay Down Where You Belong fit the country's anti-war mood in late 1914 and 1915 (in it, the devil urges his son to remain "down below" - in Hell - rather than venturing up to the earth's surface, where Europeans were fighting viciously), and when America was later engaged in the European conflict, Fields cut songs that reflected that change.
Interestingly, the popular Let's Bury The Hatchet on Columbia A2617 at first seems to call for peace until the title line is completed in the song's chorus: "Let's bury the hatchet in the Kaiser's head." This remained in Columbia's catalog even after the war was over.
Another example of a song with topical lyrics is Meyer's San Francisco (Columbia A1699), recorded in 1915 to promote the Pan-American Exposition.
On March 15, 1917, Fields recorded Everybody Loves a 'Jass' Band, and when this was issued in July 1917 on Diamond Disc 50439, its disc jacket stated, "Do you love a 'Jass' band? Doubtless you would if you knew what one was. You'll know all about it when you have heard this song. 'Jass' bands are all the rage this year in the 'Lobster Palaces' along Broadway."
A song associated with the singer is Bob Carleton's 1918 tune Ja-Da, which Fields recorded for Victor, Columbia, Edison, and other companies. Victor originally announced to dealers in an advance list of records printed on December 31, 1918, that Ja-Da would be issued in March 1919 on the "B" side of Victor 18522, with the "A" side featuring Fields singing a comic stuttering song titled Oh Helen! (the list calls it "a good successor to Geoffrey O'Hara's K-K-K-Katy).
Ja-Da in fact was issued on 18522 but Billy Murray's Alcoholic Blues was on the "A" side. Victor executives obviously judged at the last minute that the song was potentially offensive since stuttering in the chorus reduces the name "Helen" to "hell" and the word "damsel" to "damn."
Other companies did issue versions. Fields sings Oh Helen! on Edison Diamond Disc 50518 and Lyric 5138. Ray Cummings, who wrote much promotional literature for Edison, states on the Diamond Disc jacket for the song, "There something the matter with you if you can't laugh at it. And I don't very well see how anyone could be offended at it either for it isn't profane and it isn't vulgar."
In 1918, as America suffered its heaviest casualties in Europe, Fields recorded mostly songs that reflected America's involvement in the European conflict. They were incredibly popular and remained available into the 1920s, a few available as late as 1925.
Fields had enjoyed moderate success as a recording artist from 1915 to 1917 but was prominent in 1918 and 1919. Whereas the May 1918 Victor catalogue listed only Fields' Along Came Ruth and offers no biographical lines, the 1919 catalogue lists five more selections, including When I Send You A Picture of Berlin (18474) and Oui, Oui, Marie (18489). Irving Kaufman recorded a competing version of Oui, Oui, Marie on Columbia A2637, but Fields' version proved the more popular. Fields also recorded it for Pathe 20424.
Victor's 1919 catalogue states, "When America entered the war, [Fields] promptly placed himself at the service of his country, and did great work in recruiting the old Seventy-first Regiment."
He became exclusive to Emerson beginning in September 1919 and was never afterwards an important Victor artist, but Victor for a few years afterwards kept in its catalogue the older Fields records that refer to the war.
Victor's 1922 catalogue lists fifteen titles sung by Fields and adds the cryptic line, "He has gained honestly the great reputation he now enjoys."

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