Lyrics

This film is showing at the AFI Silver tonight, so I finally get to see it on the big screen! In case you have a boy about Chester's age who is thinking of going to the city, here are the lyrics so you can sing him this cautionary tale:

THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER

There once was a poor boy and he left his country home,
And he came to the city to look for work.

He promised his Ma and Pa he would lead a sinless life,
And always shun the fatal curse of drink.

Once in the city, he got a situation in a quarry,
And there he made the acquaintance of some college students.

He little thought they were demons, for they wore the best of clothes,
But the clothes do not always make the gentleman.

Oh they tempted him to drink, and they said he was a coward,
‘Til at last he took the fatal glass of beer.

When he saw what he’d done, he threw the glass upon the floor,
And he staggered through the door with delirium tremens.

Once upon the sidewalk he met a Salvation Army girl,
And wickedly he broke her tambourine.

Oh, she said “What Heaven - Heaven bless you,” and placed a mark upon his brow,
With a kick she’d learned before she had been saved.

Now as a moral to young men who come down to the city,
Don’t go around breaking people’s tambourines.

(My first, ever, IMDB posting.)