A popular song from 1925
Words and music by Irving Berlin
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
Gone are the times when they blamed all the crimes
On the old cafe’s
They used to blame everything you could name
On the drinking days
Drinking is still in season
But there’s another reason
Things that are done that would make anyone
Feel ashamed today are blamed today
Chorus
Upon the Charleston
They’re blaming the Charleston
What happens at night that isn’t quite right
It’s blamed on the Charleston
And each reformer gets warmer and warmer
When he discovers that the wife has gone
With his best friend
He blames it on the Charleston
They tell us that the girls who dare
To do the Charleston
Are going to the Lord knows where
Instead of blaming the girls who need taming
When Mabel and Kate refuse to go straight
It’s blaming the Charleston
Chorus
Upon the Charleston
They’re blaming the Charleston
Whenever a wife says this is the life
It’s blamed on the Charleston
They love it so much that’s why they’re not home much
Those high-toned ladies from fifth Avenue
Who think they’re wicked when they do the Charleston
The ladies in the big revues all do the Charleston
It helps to chase away the blues
They shake a leg when those butter and egg men
Come into the hall and if they should fall
It’s blamed on the Charleston
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: