Ragtime Mocking Bird

From “She Knows Better Now”, 1912
Words and music by Irving Berlin


The sheet music:


Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:


Lyrics

  1. Honey dear, honey dear
    Can’t you hear that ragtime mocking bird?
    Lend an ear, lend an ear
    To the dearest notes you ever have heard
    Here’s the man, here’s the man
    Here’s the man who owns that mocking bird
    Hear him yell that he’d sell it for a dollar bill
    Yes he will, yes he will

Chorus:
Honey, won’t you buy for me
That ragtime mocking bird?
Just open up your pocketbook
Can’t you hear me holler?
Pay the man a dollar
Honey, if you buy for me
That ragtime mocking bird
I’ll call you names like King Louis the Third
If you buy for me that ragtime mocking bird

  1. Honey dove, honey dove
    Don’t you love that feathered Tetrazzin?
    Ev’ry note in her throat
    Is a boat chock’d full of peaches and cream
    If your heart cares for art
    Better part with that one dollar bill
    Honey, why don’t you buy that bird
    And keep me still?
    Say you will, say you will

Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: