Lydia The Tattooed Lady
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg
As sung by J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho Marx) in "At the Circus"
Note: MP2 and WAV versions of this song can be found at:
(Intro dialog)
Chico: Folks, I wanna you should meet my pal,
my *best* friend. (What's your name again?)
Groucho: Loophole.
Chico: Glad to know ya.
Groucho: It's your pleasure.
Ah this meeting brings back memories--
childhood days! lemonade!! romance!
My life was wrapped around the circus--
her name was Lydia. I met her at the World's
Fair in 1900, marked down from 1940. Ah Lydia.
(ad lib sung/spoken)
She was the most glorious creature under the sun.
Weiss(?)!, DuBarry(?)! Garbo! Rolled into one.
Ahhhhh...
Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
Lydia the tattooed lady
She has eyes that folks adore so
And a torso even more so
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
Oh Lydia, the queen of tattoo
On her back is the Battle of Waterloo
Beside it the Wreck of the Hesperus, too
And proudly above waves the red, white and blue
You can learn a lot from Lydia
(la la la, la la la)
(la la la, la la la)
When her robe is unfurled, she will show you the world
If you step up and tell her where
For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree
Or Washington crossing the Delaware
(la la la, la la la)
(la la la, la la la)
Ah Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
Oh Lydia the tattooed lady
When her muscles start relaxin'
Up the hill comes Andrew Jackson
Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
Oh Lydia, the queen of them all
For two bits she will do a mazurka in jazz
With a view of Niagara that nobody has
And on a clear day, you can see Alcatraz
You can learn a lot from Lydia
(la la la, la la la)
(la la la, la la la)
Come along and see Buffalo Bill with his lasso
Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso
Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon
Here's Godiva but with her pajamas on
(la la la, la la la)
(la la la, la la la)
Here is Grover Whelan unveilin' the Tri-lon
Over on the west coast we have Treasure Isle-on
Here's Nijinski a-doin' the rumba
Here's her social security numbah
(Whistling instead of singing la la la...)
(Whistling instead of singing la la la...)
Ah Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
Oh Lydia, the champ of them all
She once swept an admiral clear off his feet
The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat
And now the old boy's in command of the fleet
For he went and married Lydia
I said Lydia
He said Lydia
They said Lydia
We said Lydia
La-la!