From the film “Little Boy Lost”, 1953.
Words by Johnny Burke.
Music by James Van Heusen.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
An ocean liner starts from France
And ends up at United States
Then turns around and ends up where it started
Which means a lot of tourists met and parted
And they didn’t know the language of
The country they were in
But I’ll bet they got along all right
And suffered no chagrin
The strangers in your travels
Or your neighbors down the pike
They all act pretty much alike
Chorus
The Yankee reaches for his hat
The Frenchman his chapeau
The Frenchman’s off to promenade
The Yankee’s on the go
But however people say it
Or whatever people do
Cela m’est egal, if it’s all the same to you
The Eiffel Tow’r is tres tres haut
The Empire State is high
The river Seine is tres mouille
The Hudson isn’t dry
But however people say it
Or whatever people do
Cela m’est egal, if it’s all the same to you
On the Rue de la Paix
Or Forty Second Street
What you’re trying to say
They’ll understand tout de suite
The Frenchman takes a wagon lit
To get from France to Spain
The Yankee takes a Pullman
But they both get on a train
So, it really doesn’t matter
And as far as I can see
If it’s all the same to you
It’s all the same to me
Cela m’est egal C’est la vie
Chorus
The Frenchman sips a dubonnet
And sings a chansonette
The Yankee leans against a bar
And gets his whistle wet
But however people say it
Or whatever people do
Cela m’est egal, if it’s all the same to you
The Frenchman eats his dejeuner
The Yankee grabs a bite
The Frenchman strikes an allumette
To give the Yank a light
But no matter what they call it
And no matter what they do
Cela m’est egal, if it’s all the same to you
If an Idaho spud ain’t on the bill of fare
What’s the difference, Bud
If you get pomme de terre?
The Frenchman’s quite a bonvivant
The Yankee’s quite a sport
And If they don’t live right next door
They could live porte a porte
So, no matter, friend, who you are
And no matter who je suis
If it’s all the same to you
It’s all the same to me
Cela m’est egal C’est la vie