Dance of the Paper Dolls

A popular song from 1928
Words and music by Johnny Tucker, Joe Schuster and John Siras


The sheet music:


Accompaniment by Denese Coulbeck:


Lyrics

  1. Come my children, gather ’round
    This tale you all should know
    About the dancing paper dolls
    Who staged a little show
    I paid ten cents for a seat
    To watch the whole affair
    Now I shall go on and tell you
    Just what happened there

Chorus
Boy, what a laugh to see Jack Horner
Strutting his stuff up in the corner
Little Bo-Peep, she lost her sheep
At the dance of the paper dolls
Next on the bill came Tommy Tucker
He sang a song about his supper
One little rag doll lost his head
At the dance of the paper dolls
Little Kewpie dolls danced for hours
China dolls in blue, gave out pretty flowers
Two rubber dolls with cheeks red rosy
Bounced all around upon their toesies
We had a wonderful time last night
At the dance of the paper dolls

  1. Go to bed my children now
    And rest you little eyes
    And tomorrow I shall tell you more
    To make you wise
    I can’t think of everything
    I’m growing tired, too
    But when morning sunshines in
    I’ve more to tell to you

Chorus
Boy, you should see the Katzenjammers
Chasing the kids in green pajamas
Little Boy Blue marched two by two
At the dance of the paper dolls
Winnie Winkle had a poodle
Who could whistle Yankee Doodle
Peter Pan walked on one hand
At the dance of the paper dolls
Andy Gump came in late with Chester
He sat in the pit with the big orchestra
Boy, you should hear old Barney Google
Play “In a love nest” on his bugle
We had a wonderful time last night
At the dance of the paper dolls


Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: