Would You Rather Be A Colonel 1918 Eddie Cantor

James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 20 Oct 2004

Once I heard a father
ask his soldier son:
"Why can't you advance
like other boys have done?
You've been a Private mighty long,
won't you tell me what is wrong?"
And then the soldier lad said:
"Listen to me Dad."

I'd rather be a Private
than a Colonel in the Army,
A private has more fun,
when his day's work is done,
and when he goes on hikes,
in every town he strikes,
girls discover him
and just smother him with things he likes,
but girlies act so shy
when Colonel passes by,
he holds his head so high with dignity,
so would you rather be a Colonel
with an eagle on your shoulder,
or a private with a chicken on your knee?

I'd rather be a Private
than a Colonel in the Army,
A Colonel out in France,
can never take a chance,
for tho' his job is great,
he dare not make a date,
all that he can do
is just Parley Voo then hesitate,
but Privates meet the Ma,
and then they treat the Pa
and then they "OooLaLa"
with "Wee Marie"
So would you rather be a Colonel
with an eagle on your shoulder,
or a private with a chicken on your knee?

Every night you find some Private in the park,
spooning on a bench
where it is nice and dark;
he's just as happy as can be,
with his girl upon his knee,
but Colonel never dares
to mix in such affairs.

I'd rather be a Private
than a Colonel in the Army,
A private has more fun,
when his day's work is done,
and when he goes on hikes,
in every town he strikes,
girls discover him
and just smother him with things he likes,
but girlies act so shy
when Colonel passes by,
he holds his head so high with dignity,
so would you rather be a Colonel
with an eagle on your shoulder,
or a private with a chicken on your knee?

I'd rather be a Private
than a Colonel in the Army,
A Colonel out in France,
can never take a chance,
for tho' his job is great,
he dare not make a date,
all that he can do
is just Parley Voo then hesitate,
but Privates meet the Ma,
and then they treat the Pa
and then they "OooLaLa"
with "Wee Marie"
So would you rather be a Colonel
with an eagle on your shoulder,
or a private with a chicken on your knee?

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
Would You Rather Be A Colonel 1918
Successfully Sung by Eddie Cantor in Ziegfield's Follies of 1918
Words by Sidney D. Mitchell
Music by Archie Gottler
© 1918 by Leo Feist Inc.  New York
*
sequence and karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Wednesday 20 October 2004 at 22.33
in association with Doug Grierson
*
The full title of this song is:
Would You Rather Be a Colonel With an Eagle
on Your Shoulder, or a Private
With a Chicken on Your Knee?
*