(Down in Quaker Town), 1919
Words by Bert Kalmar and Edgar Leslie.
Music by Pete Wendling.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Oh! I just got back today
From a town not far away
I’ve been looking at the Quakers
In their clothes of gray
And it struck me mighty strange
‘Cause there’s been an awful change
If you think those folks are slow
There’s a lot that you don’t know
Chorus
All the Quakers are shoulder shakers
Down in Quaker town
Things are upside down
The Jazz Bug bit ’em, how it hit ’em
Ev’ry wiggle just makes you giggle
At the meeting hall
Bands are playing, folks are swaying
To the lovin’ “Strutters Ball”
Brother Halsey, with the palsy
You remember him
He’s the man who first began
To teach them how to “shim”
Oh! the home of William Penn
Won’t be quite the same again
‘Cause all the Quakers are shoulder shakers
Down in Quaker town
- It’s a most peculiar sight
And it doesn’t seem quite right
To see all the Quakers dancing
Way into the night
When the curfew starts to ring
Ev’rybody starts to sing
And they grab their dancing shoes
While they hum a Quaker blues
Chorus
All the Quakers are shoulder shakers
Down in Quaker town
Things are upside down
The Jazz Bug bit ’em, how it hit ’em
Ev’ry sister is quite a twister
Of a wicked knee
Baby brother, Dad and Mother
Do the “Memphis Shiveree”
Brother Morgan at the organ
Jazzes all the notes
Gee it’s simply great to watch them
Sow their Quaker oats
You should see how Sister Birch
Does a fox-trot down to church
‘Cause all the Quakers are shoulder shakers
Down in Quaker town