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:

http://mems.ee.cornell.edu/~mbw/lydia.html

Transcription and any errors by jwblair@ix.netcom.com

(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!