Don't Ask Me 1909

by James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 20 Feb 2008
2008

A story passed and then a drink,
and then a dozen more, I think,
and then a thousand jokelets passed,
till ev'ry drink was called the last,
And at the forty second jest
I tried to button up my vest,
put on my hat and say 'Good Night'
then found that it and I were tight.

Why should there be a morning after?
A night before of fun and laughter?
Why should there be an untouched bed?
Why should there be an aching head?
Ask of the earth,
ask of the sea,
ask of the stars why should this be,
But, for goodness sake,
Don't ask me.

You reach your home and fumble round,
to find the key hole,
when it's found you enter in,
take off your shoes,
and then all sense of truth you lose,
for there your wife confronts you, then,
comparing you with other men,
who come home sober to their wives,
and lead the simplest kind of lives.

Why should there be a wife to meet you?
What mystic power wakes her to greet you?
Why should she be so wondrous wise?
And laugh when you tell her
your list of lies?
Ask of the earth,
ask of the sea,
ask of the stars why should this be,
But, for goodness sake,
Don't ask me.

And when the dawn that comes at last,
the cold, cold show'r to cure the past,
the fervent brow, the manly hope
to quit all forms of drink and dope,
and then that wretched smell of food
that puts you in a peevish mood,
and drives you tott'ring on the brink
of grand resolves, straight back to drink.

Why are your nerves so awful shaky?
Why are your promises all fakey?
Why do you scorn the sober cup
of breakfast tea for a pickmeup?
Ask of the earth,
ask of the sea,
ask of the stars why should this be,
But, for goodness sake,
Don't ask me.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
Don't Ask Me 1909
Words by M.E.Rourke
Music by Richard Carle
© 1909 by White-Smith Mus.Pub.Co.
*
sequence & karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Wednesday 20 February 2008 at 17.15
in association with Doug Grierson
*