| Why do stage struck maidens clamor
|
| To be actin' in the drammer?
|
| GIRLS
|
| We’ve heard say
|
| You are gay
|
| Night and day
|
| ELLIE
|
| Oh, go 'way!
|
| GIRLS
|
| We drink water from a dipper
|
| You drink champagne from a slipper
|
| ELLIE
|
| Tho' it seems cruel to bust
|
| All your dreams
|
| Still I must;
|
| Here’s the truth I tell you:
|
| Life upon the wicked stage
|
| Ain’t ever what a girl supposes;
|
| Stage door Johnnies aren’t raging
|
| Over you with gems and roses
|
| When you let a feller hold your hand (which
|
| Means an extra beer or sandwich)
|
| Ev’rybody whispers: «Ain't her life a whirl?»
|
| Though you’re warned against a roué
|
| Ruining your reputation
|
| I have played around
|
| The one night trade around
|
| A great big nation:
|
| Wild old men who give you jewels and sables
|
| Only live in Aesop’s Fables
|
| Life upon the wicked stage
|
| Ain’t nothin' for a girl
|
| GIRLS
|
| Though we’ve listened to you moan and grieve, you
|
| Must pardon us if we do not believe you
|
| There is no doubt
|
| You’re crazy about
|
| Your awful stage!
|
| ELLIE
|
| I admit it’s fun
|
| To smear my face with paint
|
| Causing ev’ryone
|
| To think I’m what I ain’t
|
| And I like to play a demi-monde role
|
| With soul!
|
| Ask the hero does he
|
| Like the way I lure
|
| When I play a hussy
|
| Or a paramour
|
| Yet when once the curtain’s down
|
| My life is pure
|
| And how I dread it!
|
| GIRLS
|
| Life upon the wicked stage
|
| Ain’t ever what a girl supposes
|
| Stage door Johnnies aren’t raging
|
| Over you with gems and roses
|
| ELLIE
|
| If some gentleman would talk with reason
|
| I would cancel all next season
|
| Life upon the wicked stage
|
| Ain’t nothin' for a girl!
|
| GIRLS
|
| You’d be back the season after!
|
| (DANCE) |