From the original Wizard of Oz musical, 1902.
words by L Frank Baum
music by Paul Tietjens
Sheet music provided by Michael Booth:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. Tho’ I appear a handsome man
I’m really stuffed with straw
‘Tis difficult a man to plan
Without a single flaw
Tho’ you may think my lovely head
A store of lore contains
The farmer each of skill displayed
And quite forgot my brains
When brains are lacking in a head
It’s usually the rule
that wisdom from the man has fled
And he remains a fool
So, tho’ my charms are very great
As I am well assured
I’ll never reach my full estate
Till brains I have secured
Refrain
Alas! for the man who has little in his noodle
That he knows he’s under a ban
And is called a rattle-pate where’er he goes
He always does the very thing he never ought to do
He stumbles and he fumbles
And is aimless, a lobster is he
As anyone with half an eye can see
You can hear them sneer and jeer
For his wheels are out of gear
And it’s plain he’ll remain quite brainless
2. No doubt when on a man you gaze
You think he must be filled
With wisdom worthy of your praise
Condens’d and quite distilled
But when he once begins to speak
He merely wags his jaw
And you decide that he’s a freak
And only stuff’d with straw
And then the way some people act
Will lead you to suspect
That they are brainless, for a fact
And shy on intellect
So, ’tis a matter I deplore
That in my noodle I
Can never any knowledge store
Till brains I can supply
Sung here by Vancha March: