From the musical “Puttin’ on the Ritz”, 1929.
Words and music by Irving Berlin.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Have you seen the well-to-do
Up on Lenox Avenue
On that famous thoroughfare
With their noses in the air
High hats and colored collars
White spats and fifteen dollars
Spending ev’ry dime
For a wonderful time
Chorus
If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go
Why don’t you go where Harlem sits
Puttin’ on the Ritz
Spangled gowns upon a bevy of high browns
From down the levee, all misfits
Puttin’ on the Ritz
That’s where each and ev’ry Lulu Bell goes
Ev’ry Thursday ev’ning with her swell beaus
Rubbing elbows
Come with me and we’ll attend their Jubilee
And see them spend their last two bits
Puttin’ on the Ritz
Sung here by Vancha March: