From the musical “Miss Liberty”, 1949
Words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Only for Americans
The midnight life in gay Paree
The Frenchman he would never see
It’s only for Americans
The prices in the smart cafe
The Frenchman he would never pay
The price that’s more is only for
Americans from the U.S.A.
A Mo-martre lady drops her hanky
And slyly winks her eye
That’s only for a Yankee
The Frenchman wouldn’t buy
Only for Americans
The Frenchmen on the boulevards
Don’t buy those dirty postal cards
They’re only for Americans
The little holes for peeping through
To see what naughty people do
The French would bore, they’re only for
Americans from the U.S.A. - Only for Americans
The shops with many real antiques
Antiques as old as seven weeks
They’re only for Americans
The bed on which a king made love
Which there are sev’ral dozens of
The French pooh pooh, we sell them to
Americans from the U.S.A.
Those old Napoleon brandy labels
That recently were made
They’re not for Frenchmen’s tables
They’re for the Yankee trade
Only for Americans
The Frenchman gets his kisses free
But those for which there is a fee
Are only for Americans
You’ll find two prices on a dress
There’s one that is extremely less
The one that’s more is only for
Americans from the U.S.A. - Only for Americans
A Frenchman’s food is very plain
Those fancy sauces with ptomaine
Are only for Americans
A Frenchman seldom eats the snails
With little ulcers on their tails
And all that cheese was made to please
Americans from the U.S.A.
While the American carouses
Where crimson shadows creep
The French avoid those houses
They go to bed to sleep
Only for Americans
A Frenchman wouldn’t be impressed
To see a show with girls undressed
That’s only for Americans
The French don’t go to naked shows
They’ve seen what’s underneath the clothes
And each encore is only for
Americans from the U.S.A. - Only for Americans
The Frenchmen don’t keep company
With south of France society
That’s only for Americans
The Frenchman hasn’t large amounts
To pay for Barons, Dukes and Counts
That you adore, they’re only for
Americans from the U.S.A.
We like to keep the good relations
That nothing must upset
We give you decorations
That Frenchmen seldom get
Only for Americans
Our finest art is in the Louvre
The ones the experts don’t approve
Are only for Americans
We keep an artist by the gate
To sign the paintings while you wait
Before they’re dry, they’re purchased by
Americans from the U.S.A.
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: