(Don’t be ashamed of…)
a popular song from 1925
words and music by Howard Johnson, Irving Bibo and Lou Klein
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- One day I heard a dad
Say to his little lad
You ask me why we named you Abraham
You say you’re ridiculed
By all the boys in school
And now you want to change it if you can
But son, before you do
I want to say to you
Chorus
Don’t be ashamed of the name of Abraham
And when they call you Abie don’t you mind
There was a man named Abraham
Not many years ago
A better man than him you’ll never find
We didn’t have the power
To make you look the same
The best we could do was to give you his name
So, if you’re half the man that Lincoln was
You’ll be proud of the name of Abraham
- Just read your history
And son, you’re bound to see
A lot of names as humble as your own
Which proves it’s not the same
Some humble men became
The greatest that the world has ever known
Your name don’t pull you through
It’s simply what you do
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: