°- Japanese Sandman (1920)

Won’t you stretch imagination for the moment and come with me Let us hasten to a nation lying over the western sea Hide behind the cherry blossoms here’s a sight that will please your eyes There’s a baby with a lady of Japan singing lullabies Night winds breathe her sighs [Chorus] Here’s a Japanese Sandman Sneaking on with the dew Just an old second hand man He’ll buy your old day from you He will take ev’ry sorrow Of the day that is through And he’ll give you tomorrow Just to start life anew Then you’ll Then you’ll be a bit older In the dawn when you wake And you’ll be a bit bolder With the new day you make Here’s the Japanese Sandman Trade him silver for gold Just an old second hand man Trading new days for old [Verse 2] Just as silent as we came we’ll leave the land of the painted fan Wander lightly or you’ll wale the little people of old Japan May repose and pleasant dreaming be their share while the hours are small Like an echo of the song I hear the Japanese Sandman call New days near for all [Chorus] Here’s a Japanese Sandman Sneaking on with the dew Just an old second hand man He’ll buy your old day from you He will take ev’ry sorrow Of the day that is through And he’ll give you tomorrow Just to start life anew Then you’ll be a bit older In the dawn when you wake And you’ll be a bit bolder With the new day you make Here’s the Japanese Sandman Trade him silver for gold Just an old second hand man Trading new days for old Alright!, that was "Japanese Sandman,” from 1920—written by Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. Whiting—came out of that post–World War I fascination with faraway places. Its dreamy feel reflects how Japan was often romanticized in American pop culture at the time. The song went on to become a real standard, recorded by artists like Django Reinhardt, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and The Andrews Sisters, and it’s even turned up in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Boardwalk Empire.