[VERSE:] Great big houses with great big rooms Were not fashioned for brides and grooms A little place is where we should be Great big troubles and great big cares Come from houses with marble stairs A little place for you and for me [REFRAIN:] Just a little room or two can more than do a little man and wife That's if they're contented with the little things in life Living on a larger scale would soon entail a lot of care and strife We could be so happy with the little things in life A little rain, a little sun, a little work, a little fun A little time for loving when the day is done And a little thing that cries for lullabies could make a man and wife Tell the world how much they love the little things in life
[VERSE:] What care I who makes the laws of a nation Let those who will take care of its rights and wrongs What care I who cares for the world's affairs As long as I can sing its popular songs [REFRAIN:] Let me sing a funny song With crazy words that roll along And if my song can start you laughing I'm happy, happy Let me sing a sad refrain Of broken hearts who love in vain And if my song can start you crying I'm happy Let me croon a lowdown blues That lifts you out of your seat If my blues can reach your shoes And start you tapping your feet I'm happy Let me sing of Dixie's charms Of cotton fields and mammy's arms And if my song can make you homesick I'm happy [various alternate lines:] Of broken hearts that loved in vain To lift you out of your seat If my song can reach your shoes The Swanee shore and mother's arms
[VERSE:] Never saw such perfect beauty before Never saw such charming manners what's more Never saw such eyes of heavenly blue Never saw what I see looking at you [REFRAIN:] I could never weary Looking at you, looking at you All thro' life, my dearie Looking at you, looking at you Wish that I was able To make you say, "I do" And sit across the breakfast table Looking at you, looking at you
[VERSE:] Mammy mine, there's a light divine In your eyes that shines for me And that light tells me I'm all right Though the world may not agree Whatever they say or do I know how I stand with you [1st REFRAIN:] Who cares what the world may say? No matter what comes my way I'm everything To my mammy And who cares if I lose the race? No matter who takes my place I'm still the king To my mammy How much does she love me? I'll tell you no lie How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Who cares if my friends have gone? You'll find me still holding on 'Cause I can cling To my mammy [2nd REFRAIN:] Who cares if the people shout I'm nothing to rave about? I'm everything To my mammy And who cares if the future shows I may be in beggar's clothes? I'm still the king To my mammy The crowd disapproving won't hurt me because My mammy still loves me and that's my applause Who cares if they say I'm through? Someday when my song won't do I still can sing To my mammy
[Original 1930 version:] [VERSE:] Have you seen the well-to-do Up on Lenox Avenue On that famous thoroughfare With their noses in the air High hats and colored collars White spats and fifteen dollars Spending every dime For a wonderful time [REFRAIN:] If you're blue and you don't know where to go to Why don't you go where Harlem sits Puttin' on the ritz Spangled gowns upon a bevy of high browns From down the levee, all misfits Puttin' on the ritz That's where each and ev'ry Lulu Bell goes Ev'ry Thursday ev'ning with her swell beaus Rubbing elbows Come with me and we'll attend their jubilee And see them spend their last two bits Puttin' on the ritz [Revised 1946 version:] [VERSE:] Have you seen the well-to-do Up and down Park Avenue On that famous thoroughfare With their noses in the air High hats and Arrow collars White spats and lots of dollars Spending every dime For a wonderful time [REFRAIN:] If you're blue and you don't know where to go to Why don't you go where fashion sits Puttin' on the ritz Diff'rent types who wear a day coat, pants with stripes And cutaway coat, perfect fits Puttin' on the ritz Dressed up like a million dollar trouper Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper Super duper Come, let's mix where Rockefellers walk with sticks Or "um-ber-ellas" in their mitts Puttin' on the ritz [alternate lyrics:] Strolling up the avenue so happy All dressed up just like an English chappie Very snappy You'll declare it's simply topping [top-thing?] to be there And hear them swapping smart tidbits Puttin' on the ritz [alternate lyrics from Fred Astaire's commercial recording:] Tips his hat just like an English chappie To a lady with a wealthy pappy Very snappy
[VERSE:] I could find the road to happiness with you close to me, dear I could turn a failure to success if you always were near I could make my dreams come true, but it will depend on you [REFRAIN:] With you, a sunny day, without you, clouds in the sky With you, my luck will stay, without you, fortune will fly With you, I'll never stop until I reach the top Without you, I will never get by With you, a happy song, without you, castles that fall With you, I can't go wrong, without you, chances are small With you, my banner's unfurled right there on top of the world Without you, I'm just nothing at all
[VERSE:] We took a walk, we had a talk And let me tell you very confidentially The little walk, the little talk Has made me just as glad as glad as I can be I simply wanted to know Who she was loving and so We took a walk and had a talk And I discovered pretty soon that it was me [REFRAIN:] Me! She gave her attention Not to him, not to her, not to them, not to those, but to me Her family They held a convention Not for him, not for her, not for them, not for those, but for me I'm delighted, yes sir! And I have to laugh Standing on my dresser Is a photograph Which proves that she Gives all her attention Not to him, not to her, not to them, not to those, but to me
[VERSE:] Lenox Avenue is known For doing the low down But you'll find they're not alone In doing the low down Fifth Avenue's learning how They had to fall Fifth Avenue does it now But that's not all [REFRAIN:] Whenever the folks high-up do that mean low down There is no low down lower than that Whenever the swells slow down and become low down There is no low down lower than that You may believe it or not When they start getting hot There is no Hottentot That's hotter than that So you can lay your dough down when they go low down There is no low down lower than that
[Written for the film, it is not sung but the melody is heard.] [VERSE:] A pale new moon, a sky of blue And here am I but where are you? A dream of love would soon come true If I could reach the moon and you [REFRAIN:] The moon and you appear to be So near and yet so far from me And here am I on a night in June Reaching for the moon and you I wonder if we'll ever meet My song of love is incomplete I'm just the words looking for the tune Reaching for the moon and you
[Duet, written in 1930, not used in film:] [VERSE:] When you accuse me of being untrue, my dear It hurts me so, you'll never know There's no one else that I'm loving but you, my dear That's true and so you ought to know [1st REFRAIN:] I don't go out with other guys -I saw you myself with my own eyes Do you believe your eyes or do you believe your baby? Whoever told you, told you lies -I saw you myself with my own eyes Do you believe your eyes or do you believe your baby? You say you saw me dancing around until three But I was home with Mother, so it wasn't me It must have been two other guys -I saw you myself with my own eyes Do you believe your eyes or do you believe your baby? [alternate lines in 2nd REFRAIN:] It isn't quite what you'd surmise -I saw you myself with my own eyes Do you believe your eyes, you baby, don't tell lies -Well, come on, dear, I'm wise Do you believe your baby? -I don't believe my baby