<P> For the final number of the Thanksgiving Follies , Nellie performs a comedy burlesque dressed as a sailor singing the praises of `` his '' sweetheart ( `` Honey Bun '' ) . Billis plays Honey Bun , dressed in a blond wig , grass skirt and coconut - shell bra . After the show , Emile asks Nellie to reconsider . She insists that she can not feel the same way about him since she knows about his children 's Polynesian mother . Frustrated and uncomprehending , Emile asks Cable why he and Nellie have such prejudices . Cable , filled with self - loathing , replies that `` it 's not something you 're born with '' , yet it is an ingrained part of their upbringing ( `` You 've Got to Be Carefully Taught '' ) . He also vows that if he gets out of the war alive , he wo n't go home to the United States ; everything he wants is on these islands . Emile imagines what might have been ( `` This Nearly Was Mine '' ) . Dejected and feeling that he has nothing to lose , he agrees to join Cable on his dangerous mission . </P>
<P> For the final number of the Thanksgiving Follies , Nellie performs a comedy burlesque dressed as a sailor singing the praises of `` his '' sweetheart ( `` Honey Bun '' ) . Billis plays Honey Bun , dressed in a blond wig , grass skirt and coconut - shell bra . After the show , Emile asks Nellie to reconsider . She insists that she can not feel the same way about him since she knows about his children 's Polynesian mother . Frustrated and uncomprehending , Emile asks Cable why he and Nellie have such prejudices . Cable , filled with self - loathing , replies that `` it 's not something you 're born with '' , yet it is an ingrained part of their upbringing ( `` You 've Got to Be Carefully Taught '' ) . He also vows that if he gets out of the war alive , he wo n't go home to the United States ; everything he wants is on these islands . Emile imagines what might have been ( `` This Nearly Was Mine '' ) . Dejected and feeling that he has nothing to lose , he agrees to join Cable on his dangerous mission . </P>
who sang this nearly was mine in south pacific
who sang this nearly was mine in south pacific
Emile
Emile