From the operetta “Countess Maritza,” 1924
Words by Harry B. Smith
Music by Emmerich Kalman
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
They used to call me prince
And I had friends galore
Good pals to drink with me
And sweethearts to adore
But friends and sweethearts follow Summer
Flying like the swallow
From the Winter to a sunny shore
If I could have my way
With gypsies I would stray
For friendship I don’t care
I’d wander free as air
I’d be a happy rover
I would roam the wide world over
To my gypsy comrades I would say
Refrain
“Play, gypsies! Dance, gypsies!
Play while you may
We’re gypsies one and all, I say
And through our youth’s Maytime
Love’s playtime, hearts ever gay
We only live for just one day
The will-o-wisp of pleasure guides
All the future hides
Love the only law obeying
Youth, a gypsy, goes a-straying
Play, gypsies! Dance, gypsies!
Play while you may
We’re gypsies one and all, I say”
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: