An international success from 1923
Words by Walter Hirsch
Musical adaptation by D. Onivas (pen name for the composer and band leader Domenico Savino)
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Long long ago, there’s a story
About a soldier and little pierrette
How they waited and waited and waited
And thru the years they could never forget
For he loved her, and wooed her and won her
And then they put him away on the shelf
So, he waited and waited and waited
A hundred years in a box by himself
Until the March of the Mannikins
Soon to be, sets them free
Their honeymoon begins
Till life’s done, they are one
So happily thru the night
They will march till the break of dawn
And all of their hearts are light
For the magical sleep is gone
See the bride and the groom so gay
Hear the wedding music
Oh, what a happy day is today
Now is the end of the story
About the soldier and little pierrette
And in toyland a joyland of glory
Will drive away every tear and regret
For he loved her, and wooed her and won her
And now together a new life begins
For they waited and waited and waited
Until the March of the Mannikins
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: