CORNET MAN Sözleri

Fanny convinces Eddie she has talent and he agrees to teach her the specialty

for the next audition. She gets the job.

FANNY:

Well--

I just put the kids to sleep

And swept the shack,

Took my sweet man's satchel down

And watched him pack,

I said, "Darlin', while the stove still smolders,

Unpin your woman's hair and rub her shoulders."

I threw myself across the doorway

Beggin', "Stay, sweet man, stay,"

But there's more in my man's life

Than this old hag.

It's Jelly Roll Morton, and a shiny cornet,

And jazzin' the rag!

The lady ain't been born

Can take the place of a horn,

With a cornet man.

A-goin' where there's blowin',

Trav'lin' cornet man.

Just anytime they call him

He'll leave his wife and kiddies

Sittin' with their tongues out

To play for peanuts in a dive

And blow his lungs out.

He'll hop a choo-choo on a moment's notice

To play some dates with Billy Bates

Or Rag-time Otis!

The lady ain't see light

Can give a horn a fair fight

With a cornet man

A rootin', shootin', ever-tootin' Dapper Dan

Who carries in his satchel

A powder-blue Norfolk suit,

A silver-plated wah-wah mute,

There is whiskey, gamblin'--each one is a curse,

But I'm up against a devil that's worse.

Yes, a horn is my thorn,

My trav'lin' cornet man!

Kill yourself! Tell me about it! Yeah! Yeah!

A powder-blue Norfolk suit,

I said a silver-plated wah-wah mute,

Oh he's shy on height,

He's short on weight,

But he's the only man can make my coffee perculate,

A Dapper Dan,

My cornet-playin' man.

After the performance, Nick Arnstein comes backstage, elegant in formal dress,

to pay off a gambling debt to Keeney. Nick has seen the show and tells Fanny

she's going to be a big star some day. Fanny asks how much Keeney is paying her,

and Nick manages to jack up her salary by pretending to bid on behalf of a competitor.

He gives her his card and kisses her hand. Eddie asks Fanny out for a date,

but she only wants to be friends; already she has fallen for Nick, but imagines she'll

never see him again.