. . . brains he has nix, a 1913 popular song.
Words and music by Spencer Williams and Milton Ager.
Laurence (Milton’s nephew) says: “It’s great to hear this song for the first time. I won this sheet in an auction several years ago after searching for years. I think I paid quite a lot. It’s a very funny song, with multiple possible interpretations… It was Milton’s only collaboration with Spencer Williams – I wish he were around still to ask him about how this came about.”
Sheet music provided by Laurence Rubenstein:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics:
- I used to sigh, I used to cry
Because I had no lovin’ beau
I’ve looked around and now I’ve found a man
I’m mighty glad to know
He’s made of tin both out and in
Works like a clock in ev’ry way
Tho’ brains he has nix, his cute lovin’ tricks
Just makes me holler out and say, “Oh!
Chorus
When he starts in lovin’, talk about your lovin’ men
He doesn’t love like one man, but he loves as much as ten
I press a button, pull a lever, set off my ‘Big Ben’
He cuddles up, cuddles up and oves me
Always he’s beside me, not a minute he’s away
All I have to do is ‘oil him up’ just once a day
He sure has a lovin’ craze, Loves in a hundred ways
And when I wind him up, he loves me just eight days
He’s my mechanical lovin’ man.”
2. My man of tin could surely win
A prize at teachin’ lovin’ schools
He’s never rude, But runs as smooth
As if his works had twenty jewels
He won my heart right from the start
By lovin’ me from A to Z
Can’t you understan’ that my lovin’ man
Was made to order just for me, “Oh!
Sung here by Fred Feild: