(Oh! Mom-e-Nez)
A 1931 American adaptation of a Cuban rumba
Words by L. Wolfe Gilbert
Music by Eliseo Grenet
Arranged by Lawrence Kempton
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
In Sloppy Joe’s, in Havana
I lingered quenching my thirst
I saw a dancer there
That was really where I saw her first
Such graceful beauty and rhythm
Had never come to my sight
She made me want to stay
Danced my heart away
Most every night
Chorus
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
They hum and strum that La Rumba for you
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
Though others come, their La Rumba won’t do
When I first saw this she-bang-o
I fell so hard for the tango
But now this brand new fandango’s
Got me like nothing got me before
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
No Cuban rum like La Rumba for me
Chorus
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
I’m deaf and dumb when La Rumba I see
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
My limbs get numb, oh La Rumba for me
Hawaiians dance in a crude way
The Africans in a lewd way
And though you dance in a nude way
Everyone loves your wonderful style
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
I’m blue and glum, dance La Rumba for me
Chorus
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
The tourist’s slum, for La Runba each night
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
They pay some sum, for La Rumba delight
At first they think it’s outrageous
And then they find it contageous
They spend their income and wages
Just to be in the spell of your charm
Oh Mom-e-nez, Oh Mom-e-nez
And still they come, for La Rumba and you
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: