Stay Down Here Where You Belong
by Irving Berlin (1914)
Down below
Down below
Sat the devil talking to his son
Who wanted to go
Up above
Up above
He cried, “It’s getting too warm for me down here and so
I’m going up on Earth where I can have a little fun”
The Devil simply shook his head and answered his son
Stay down here where you belong
The folks who live above you don’t know right from wrong
To please their kings they’ve all gone out to war
And not a one of them knows what he’s fighting for
‘Way up above they say that I’m a Devil and I’m bad
Kings up there are bigger devils than your dad
They’re breaking the hearts of mothers
Making butchers out of brothers
You’ll find more hell up there than there is down below
Kings up there
They don’t care
For the mothers who must stay at home
Their sorrows to bear
Stay at home
Don’t you roam
Although it’s warm down below, you’ll find it’s warmer up there
If e’er you went up there, my son, I know you’d be surprised
You’d find a lot of people are not civilized
Stay down here where you belong
The folks who live above you don’t know right from wrong
To please their kings they’ve all gone out to war
And not a one of them knows what he’s fighting for
‘Way up above they say that I’m a Devil and I’m bad
Kings up there are bigger devils than your dad
They’re breaking the hearts of mothers
Making butchers out of brothers
You’ll find more hell up there than there is down below
* * * * *
“Stay Down Here Where You Belong” has been recorded by Henry Burr, Tiny Tim, and the New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra, among others. For more Irving Berlin, please check out these:
