Lyrics What Can You Do With the General - Peggy Lee, Irving Berlin

What Can You Do With the General

When the war was over, why, there were jobs galore
For the G.I.
Josephs who were in the war
But for generals things were not so grand
And it’s not so hard to understand
What can you do with a general
When he stops being a general?
Oh, what can you do with a general who retires?
Who’s got a job for a general
When he stops being a general?
They all get a job but a general no one hires
They fill his chest with medals while he’s across the foam
And they spread the crimson carpet when he comes marching home
The next day someone hollers when he comes into view
«Here comes the general» and they all say «General who?»
They’re delighted that he came
But they can’t recall his name
Nobody thinks of assigning him
When they stop wining and dining him
It seems this country never has enjoyed
So many one and two and three and four star generals
Unemployed