Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway 1905

by James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 28 Sept 2007
2007

The West so they say
is the home of the jay,
and Missouri's the state
that can grind them.
This may all be,
but just take it from me,
you don't have to go out West
to find them.
If you want to see the real jay delegation,
the place where the real rubens dwell;
just hop on a train at the Grand Central Station,
get off when they shout "New Rochelle"

Only forty-five minutes from Broadway,
think of the changes it brings;
for the short time it takes,
what a diff'rence it makes,
in the ways of the people and things.
Oh! What a fine bunch of rubens,
Oh! what a jay atmosphere;
they have whiskers like hay,
and imagine Broadway
only fortyfive minutes from here.

Only forty-five minutes from Broadway,
not a café in the town;
Oh! The place is a bird,
no one here ever heard
of Delmonico, Rector, or Browne.
With a ten dollar bill
you're a spendthrift if you open a bottle of beer.
You're a sport so they say,
and imagine Broadway,
only fortyfive minutes from here.

When the bunco men hear
that their game is so near,
they'll be swarming here
thicker than bees are,
In Barnum's best days,
why he never saw jays,
that were easier to get to
than these are.
You tell them old jokes
and they laugh till they sicken,
there's giggles and grins here to let.
I told them that one about
"Why does a chicken"
the rubens are still laughing yet....

Only forty-five minutes from Broadway,
think of the changes it brings;
for the short time it takes,
what a diff'rence it makes,
in the ways of the people and things.
Oh! What a fine bunch of rubens,
Oh! what a jay atmosphere;
they have whiskers like hay,
and imagine Broadway
only fortyfive minutes from here.

Only forty-five minutes from Broadway,
not a café in the town;
Oh! The place is a bird,
no one here ever heard
of Delmonico, Rector, or Browne.
With a ten dollar bill
you're a spendthrift if you open a bottle of beer.
You're a sport so they say,
and imagine Broadway,
only fortyfive minutes from here.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway 1905
Words & Music by Geo.M.Cohan
© 1905 by F.A.Mills  New York
*
The show that spawned a raft of hits
*
sequence & karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Friday 28 September 2007 at 4.11pm
in association with Doug Grierson
*
The Broadway musical Forty-Five Minutes From Broadway (1906)
was the tale of Mary, a small town housemaid who unexpectedly
inherits a fortune. She tosses it all aside so she can have Kid
Burns, the wisecracking New Yorker she loves. In the popular title
song, Burns (originally played by Victor Moore) gives a street-smart
city boy's view of life in Mary's hometown. Note the use of period
Broadway street slang, such as "jays" and "reubens" for country
rubes or hicks.
*
This is the lyric as it appears in the original sheet music, published
by F.A. Mills (NY) in 1905 – it appears the sheet music was printed
before the show opened on Broadway.
*