[WARNING: This song contains antiquated racial stereotypes. It is presented here for historical and educational purposes only.]
a 1903 popular song
words and music by Shepard N. Edmonds
The sheet music:
Lyrics
- Mose Lincoln Lee, from Tennessee, for his discourse took this text
Dat halfway doin’s, ain’t no account in a dis world or de next
You know a hook dat has no sinkers, just like a ship without a sail
And if you notice on every kite, you’ll find that somewhere hangs a tale
If you’ve a friend whose always had a friend, whose been a ‘ticlar friend to you
Dont you begin to deceive that friend, because your friends are seldom true
Oh! you can fool dis man and fool dat man, cause a fool’s born every day
But a in your foolin’, don’t you let your rulin’ turn around the other way
Chorus
For just remember, you can’t fool all the people, all the time
An de man dat said dat, cert’nly was a friend of mine
Just remember when you’re livin’ in a house of glass
That if you start to throwin’ stones, you know your house won’t last
For if you ain’t got and won’t git, you can’t say nothin’, but Oh! my
And remember the maxims the old folks in them good books said
“That a still tongue always make the wisest kind of a head”
For you can fool some de people all de time
And you can fool all de people some de time
But remember you can’t fool all de people, all o’ the time
- Ma name is Poe, I’m feelin’ po, ’cause I’ve been po’ all my life
And when you’re po’, you ought to know, that you have no social strife
Oh! but that Eph’ram Boone, a sharp head Coon, lived a life of perfect ease
He never married, he never hurried, but would always tell you these
Jus’ do your bus’ness in a bus’ness way then you can have bus’ness to burn
Don’t try in vain, for to change the lane, dat you will find that has no turn
Cause you know de wust, is trust and to trust is bust, so to bust don’t never pay
Because when you ‘ve trusted, you will soon be busted, then your friends all roun’ will say
Sung here by Fred Feild: