May Irwin’s Laughing Coon Hit, 1899.
Words and music by Herbert Cawthorn.
The sheet music:
Dat Coon’s Got a Soft Spot Fo’ Me – Sheet Music
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Dat_Coons_Got_A_Soft_Spot_Fo_Me – MIDI
Lyrics
1. I’s been called a hoodoo nigger
Since I first can recollect
Caus I’s born on dat ole Jonah day
The thirteenth, I suspect
I’s been unlucky ever since de day dat I arruv
‘Cepten in de ‘fections of de man I love
He’s a colored fireman
On de Hook and Ladder truck
It’s only when he’s near me
Is de time dat I’m in luck
It never matters into what misfortune I may climb
Dat nigger seems to know it
For he shows up jes in time
Chorus
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me
No matter in what troble I may be
He always sees me through
And sticks to me like glue
His way through the trouble he can see
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me
If hungry I should happen fo’ to be
If he sees a chicken roost
He’ll ask me for a boost
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me
2. In a tennement I used to live
Upon de highest flo
When a zasterous fire started
And I saw my finish sho
I yeared de bells a ringing
An I jumped reight out o’ bed
Wiv de smoke an water poin’ round ma head
I got so excited wiv de smoke all up ma nose
And started groopin round about
But couldn’t find ma clothes
I rushes fo de winder just as hard as ev I can
An wen I thows it open
On de ladder stands ma man
Chorus
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me
He takes me on de ladder wid him, see
But de ladder starts to bend
Just as I found ma friend
An my weight makes him shakey at de knee
Just den dare comes a crash, and Oh, Gee
Dat ladder breaks and drops both him and me
I is such a clumsy lummock
I fell right on his stomach
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me
3. After dat I moved into a very cozy little flat
Wiv so many late improvements
Didn’t know wah I was at
Dare was a little dummy elevator so bewitchen
Used to bring der things up thro’ der shaft to de kitchen
I was leanin’ down de shaft conversin’ to ma love
I over lost ma balance and fell in it from above
De neighbors in each flat pulled open all dare dummy doors
Dey couldn’t budge me up or down
I stuck between de floors
Chorus
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me
I fit dat shaft as tightly as could be
I was so awful fat dat I corked up de flat
An dey couldn’t use de dummy, don’t yer see?
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me
Some lard up in de kitchen he did see
So he greased around de casement
And slid me to de basement
He’s surely got a soft spot fo’ me