Lyrics to Yes We Have no Bananas!
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDbcIJbzpbQ”]
I have just worked out how to work the stats counter on Bluehost’s website and lo and behold, I’ve discovered that people are actually disembarking on this folly, albeit only to look around with a puzzled look on their face and jump right back on board the ship they sailed in on. And all this time I thought nobody was stopping by to say hello. And all I can say is, Yes we have no lyrics, we have no lyrics today. Because when most of you turned up here it seems you weren’t looking to find out about some disturbed Aspergic Attention Deficit Disordered bipolar loon of an aspirant writer and what he had for breakfast and how he was breaking wind and swearing at all and sundry come lunch time as a result, no, you wanted to know the lyrics to a popular WWII bomb shelter singsong. Well this time in fact I shan’t let you down. Here they are, and if you scroll slowly down and sing along then perhaps some small percentage of you may even look beyond the hideous gren and yellow getup and stop for longer than the 30 seconds that seems to be my limit for the time being.Or not. Seriously though, I do love some of this old music hall stuff, and I remember telling a workmate of mine who I recently got myself in trouble with teasing me about my revelation that I had enjoyed a Max Bygraves’ song on the radio. That’s a sign you’re getting old, she probably told me.I’ve never heard the song. Nothing but a snippet at least, sung by an old man strolling along in Scab City one day and walking up to the fruit seller by the scabbier of the two malls. In that moment I believed in a better time when people would approach each other on the street and pass the time.But no, sorry, this website has little enough in common with the song but a tangential link to that sentiment that we’ve all let things slide in this society. I am aware too that I haven’t really explained the title of the blog, and that my About section is such a pseudiferous jumble of unintelligibles that I am unwilling even to link to it. I must go back and look over some of those old posts. Now that I can see people are actually accessing the site, perhaps I will have more inclination to do so.Still, as promised, here it is, what you’ve all been looking for.There’s a fruit store on our streetIt’s run by a GreekAnd he keeps good things to eat But you should hear him speak!When you ask him anything, he never answers “no”He just “yes”es you to death, and as he takes your dough He tells you”Yes, we have no bananasWe have-a no bananas todayWe’ve string beans, and onionsCabashes, and scallions,And all sorts of fruit and sayWe have an old fashioned tomatoA Long Island potato But yes, we have no bananasWe have no bananas todayBusiness got so good for him that he wrote home to say,”Send me Pete and Nick and Jim; I need help right away”When he got them in the store, there was fun, you betSomeone asked for “sparrow grass” and then the whole quartetAll answered “Yes, we have no bananasWe have-a no bananas todayJust try those coconutsThose wall-nuts and doughnutsThere ain’t many nuts like theyWe’ll sell you two kinds of red herring,Dark brown, and ball-bearingBut yes, we have no bananasWe have no bananas today”He,he,he,he, ha, ha, ha whatta you laugh at?You gotta soup or pie?Yes, I don’t think we got soup or pieYou gotta coconut pie?Yes, I don’t think we got coconut pieWell I’ll have one cup a coffeeWe gotta no coffeeThen watta you got?I got a banana!Oh you’ve got a banana!Yes, we gotta no banana, No banana, No banana, I tell you we gotta no banana todayI sella you no bananaHey, Mary Anna, you gotta.. gotta no banana?Why this man, he’s no believe-a what I say… no… he no believe me…Now whatta you wanta mister? You wanna buy twelve for a quarter?Well, just a one of a look, I’m gonna call for my daughterHey, Mary Anna You gotta pianaYes, a banana, noYes, we gotta no bananas today!The new English “clark” (a.k.a.“clerk”):Yes, we are very sorry to inform youThat we are entirely out of the fruit in questionThe afore-mentioned vegetable Bearing the cognomen “Banana”We might induce you to accept a substitute less desirable,But that is not the policy at this internationally famous green groceryI should say not. No no no no no no noBut may we suggest that you sample our five o’clock teaWhich we feel certain will tempt your pallet?However we regret that after a diligent searchOf the premises By our entire staffWe can positively affirm without fear of contradictionThat our raspberries are delicious; really deliciousVery delicious But we have no bananas today.I can understand a nostalgia for an age whose popular music cast such an upbeat eye over the world, and which helped people to share so much. Today popular culture itself is so divided that it can bring only cliques together and sometimes makes us feel more apart. It’s no wonder that Billie Fisher wanted a piece of that music hall life before it died for good.
