Album: The Very Best of Bing Crosby (1944)

Charted: 2

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• You got to ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
  E-lim-i-nate the negative
  And latch on to the affirmative
  Don't mess with Mr. In-between
  You got to spread joy up to the maximum
  Bring gloom down to the minimum
  And have faith, or pandemonium
  Liable to walk upon the scene
  
  To illustrate his last remark
  Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
  What did they do, just when everything looked so dark?
  
  Man, they said we better ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
  E-lim-i-nate the negative
  And latch on to the affirmative
  Don't mess with Mr. In-between
  No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
  Do you hear me?
  
  Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
  About the eliminatin' of the negative
  And the accent on the positive
  And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
  And sit tight while I start reviewin'
  The attitude of doin' right
  
  You've gotta ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
  E-lim-i-nate the negative
  And latch on to the affirmative
  Don't mess with Mr. In-between
  You got to spread joy up to the maximum
  Bring gloom down to the minimum
  Otherwise (otherwise), pandemonium
  Liable to walk upon the scene
  
  To illustrate my last remark
  Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
  What did they say
  Say when everything looked so dark?
  
  Man, they said we better ac-cent-tchu-ate the positive
  E-lim-i-nate the negative
  And latch on to the affirmative
  Don't mess with Mr. In-between
  No, do not mess with Mister In-Between Writer/s: Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer
  Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 3

• Topal from MontréalEnglish is not my mother tongue and I have sometimes difficulties to understand the references in a song. In this song I do not understand who is the "Mister In-Between". Is it God or is it the emotion between happiness and sadness?
• Frederic from VirginiaThe song appeared in a movie entitled "Here Come The WAVES". Note the all caps. This is usually missed. Even Wikipedia gets it wrong. It doesn't help that the poster for the movie has all of the title in all caps. WAVES stood for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services" – and was the women’s branch of the United States Navy which served during World War II. The group was created in 1942 and disbanded in 1946.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn February 23rd, 1945, exactly seventy five years ago today, Bing Crosby and The Andrew Sisters' "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" peaked at #2 {for 1 week} on Billboard's 'Best-Selling Retail Records' chart, for the week it was at #2, the #1 record for that week was "Rum and Coca-Cola" by The Andrew Sisters...
  According to Billboard, "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" was tied at #2 with "Don't Fence Me In" by Bing Crosby and The Andrew Sisters...
  The remainder of the Best-Selling Records' Top 10 on February 23rd, 1945:
  At#3. "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" by Johnny Mercer and The Pied Pipers
  #4. "Rum and Coca-Cola" by Abe Lyman and His Orchestra
  #5. "Cocktails For Two" by Spike Jones and His City Slickers
  #6. "Candy" by Johnny Mercer withJo Stafford and The Pied Pipers
  #7. "I'm Beginning To See The Light" by Harry James with vocals by Kitty Kallen
  #8. "A Little On The Lonely Side" by Frankic Carle with vocals by Paul Allen
  #9. "Don't Fence Me In" by Sammy Kaye with vocals by Billy Williams
  #10. "I Wanna Get Married" by Gertrude Niesen

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