From the 1936 film “Sing, Baby, Sing”.
Words by Jack Yellen.
Music by Lew Pollack.
Sheet music provided by Nicholas Leunissen:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
I was raised by a Harlem mammy
Nothing fazed my Harlem mammy
She sang all day long
Nothing stopped her song
She would say, “While I got music
Nothing worries me”
If you aim to be the same
Here’s my recipe
Chorus
When trouble troubles you
Sing, baby, sing
Do like the birdies do
Sing, baby, sing
When cold winter comes
And they are all out of crumbs
Poor little birdies they ain’t eatin’
But they’re tweet-tweet tweetin’
Oh, ho ho! don’t you know
A song a day keeps mean old
Mister bloom away?
Hard luck don’t like music
With that certain swing
So swing while you sing, baby sing
Sung here by Vancha March: