A White House Cantata: Part 2: Duet for One Songtext
von London Symphony Orchestra, Kent Nagano
A White House Cantata: Part 2: Duet for One Songtext
Hail, hail, hail, hail
Hail to the man who
(Hail) Without whom
(Hail) Who needs no
(Hail) No man I am proud to
(Hail) If it′s he
(Hail) And he's you
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Hail, Grant
Hail, Grant
Farewell
Of my presidential husbands
Only Grant was bottle-fed
As for me, I come from Georgia
Southern born and southern bred
When they swear in our successor
We have got to be on hand
And you hope that I can stand it
And that General Grant can stand
Hail to the man who
(Hail) Without whom
(Hail) Who needs no
(Hail) No man I am proud to
(Hail) If it′s he
(Hail) And he's you
Is it Hayes or is it Tilden?
Somehow no one seems to know
Thirteen weeks for counting ballots
I would say is rather slow
I have packed up all the bourbon
Told them where to send the mail
While the people march in circles
Wondering who the hell to hail
Hail, who
Hail, who
Hail to the man who
(Hail) Without whom
(Hail) Who needs no
(Hail) No man I am proud to
(Hail) If it's he
(Hail) And he′s you
Rutherford B. Hayes
Not Rutherford B. Hayes
Hail, Hayes
Praise Hayes
Good God
I do solemnly swear...
A few dozen seconds are all that remain
Until once again I am little old plain Julia Grant
What an anti-climax life will be
For Ulysses and me
I do solemnly swear...
A few dozen seconds are all that remain
And I will no longer be ordinary plain Lucy Hayes
What a blaze of glory life will be
For Rutherford and me
...That I will faithfully execute...
Now they′ll cheer Lucy Hayes
That dear Lucy Hayes
They'll worship her matchless cucumber skin
Her fingers like ancient bamboo
They′ll dote on her lips so enchantingly thin
That it's hard to believe there are two
...That I will faithfully execute...
Demodé, Julia Grant
Passé, Julia Grant
Her three little chins are now out of style
Her charm has become sub-sublime
I′m told they are planning to travel a while
Seeing friends who are still doing time
...The office of the President of the United States...
The gall of her husband, that treacherous soul
Taken the oath of the office he stole
...The office of the President of the United States...
Thank God for our Bible, that glorious book
Everything else Grant and Julia took
...And to the best of my ability...
He's making the "O" a four-letter word
And making the eagle a hawk
He thinks no one knows what really occurred
But I do and I′m dying to talk
Yeah! They counted the ballots and when they were done
How well, how well
Far behind Tilden had Rutherford run
Meow, meow
So they counted again, again one by one
They counted and counted 'til Rutherford won
And now that cow is the First Lady, First Lady
Very First Lady of the Land
The bouquet of bouquets
I'm the whole U.S.A.′s Lucy Hayes
La la la, si si si, he he he, Lucy Hayes
Hail, Lucy
Praise, Lucy
Very First Lucy of the Land
It′s too lovely to be true
So much happiness could happen too
La la la, ha ha ha
Might it never been during this jubilee
Had she not chosen wisely connubially
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
My Lucy Hayes
Then all through the South came a call in the night
"Take Hayes!"
First Lady, First Lady
Lucy is Lady of the land
Oh my eyes nearly glaze
When I hear people praise
Lucy Hayes
Lucy is it?
G-O-P
P-A-Yes?
Lucy
Lucy is Lucy of the land
Unpretentious little mayor
Who'd imagine I would ever be
Mother of all
Lucy
Who would have dreamed I′d be fronting
Five ships of light
With a Buren hat pulled close to spring light
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
My Lucy
A birthday election of '76
And even the happy returns are affixed
By that thief
And his beefy, dumpy, frumpy Frau
Who′s the First Lady now
So happy centennial, dear native land
Those little black hopes have been wrecked
Thank Hayes the Caucasians are back in command
The better for him to protect
Oh, three more seconds
Two more seconds
Oh, God
Oh, Robbie
You're the President
And I′m the First Lady
First Lady
First Lady
Lucy is Lucy of the land
Oh, one term will never do
If you love me you will make it two
For you'll do
Everything for me
You'll sing for me
Play piano for me
And let Santo Luciano be sung for me
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
My Lucy
Hayes Hayes Hayes
Hail to the man who
(Hail) Without whom
(Hail) Who needs no
(Hail) No man I am proud to
(Hail) If it′s he
(Hail) And he's you
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Ulysses Simpson Grant
Hail, Grant
Hail, Grant
Farewell
Of my presidential husbands
Only Grant was bottle-fed
As for me, I come from Georgia
Southern born and southern bred
When they swear in our successor
We have got to be on hand
And you hope that I can stand it
And that General Grant can stand
Hail to the man who
(Hail) Without whom
(Hail) Who needs no
(Hail) No man I am proud to
(Hail) If it′s he
(Hail) And he's you
Is it Hayes or is it Tilden?
Somehow no one seems to know
Thirteen weeks for counting ballots
I would say is rather slow
I have packed up all the bourbon
Told them where to send the mail
While the people march in circles
Wondering who the hell to hail
Hail, who
Hail, who
Hail to the man who
(Hail) Without whom
(Hail) Who needs no
(Hail) No man I am proud to
(Hail) If it's he
(Hail) And he′s you
Rutherford B. Hayes
Not Rutherford B. Hayes
Hail, Hayes
Praise Hayes
Good God
I do solemnly swear...
A few dozen seconds are all that remain
Until once again I am little old plain Julia Grant
What an anti-climax life will be
For Ulysses and me
I do solemnly swear...
A few dozen seconds are all that remain
And I will no longer be ordinary plain Lucy Hayes
What a blaze of glory life will be
For Rutherford and me
...That I will faithfully execute...
Now they′ll cheer Lucy Hayes
That dear Lucy Hayes
They'll worship her matchless cucumber skin
Her fingers like ancient bamboo
They′ll dote on her lips so enchantingly thin
That it's hard to believe there are two
...That I will faithfully execute...
Demodé, Julia Grant
Passé, Julia Grant
Her three little chins are now out of style
Her charm has become sub-sublime
I′m told they are planning to travel a while
Seeing friends who are still doing time
...The office of the President of the United States...
The gall of her husband, that treacherous soul
Taken the oath of the office he stole
...The office of the President of the United States...
Thank God for our Bible, that glorious book
Everything else Grant and Julia took
...And to the best of my ability...
He's making the "O" a four-letter word
And making the eagle a hawk
He thinks no one knows what really occurred
But I do and I′m dying to talk
Yeah! They counted the ballots and when they were done
How well, how well
Far behind Tilden had Rutherford run
Meow, meow
So they counted again, again one by one
They counted and counted 'til Rutherford won
And now that cow is the First Lady, First Lady
Very First Lady of the Land
The bouquet of bouquets
I'm the whole U.S.A.′s Lucy Hayes
La la la, si si si, he he he, Lucy Hayes
Hail, Lucy
Praise, Lucy
Very First Lucy of the Land
It′s too lovely to be true
So much happiness could happen too
La la la, ha ha ha
Might it never been during this jubilee
Had she not chosen wisely connubially
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
My Lucy Hayes
Then all through the South came a call in the night
"Take Hayes!"
First Lady, First Lady
Lucy is Lady of the land
Oh my eyes nearly glaze
When I hear people praise
Lucy Hayes
Lucy is it?
G-O-P
P-A-Yes?
Lucy
Lucy is Lucy of the land
Unpretentious little mayor
Who'd imagine I would ever be
Mother of all
Lucy
Who would have dreamed I′d be fronting
Five ships of light
With a Buren hat pulled close to spring light
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
My Lucy
A birthday election of '76
And even the happy returns are affixed
By that thief
And his beefy, dumpy, frumpy Frau
Who′s the First Lady now
So happy centennial, dear native land
Those little black hopes have been wrecked
Thank Hayes the Caucasians are back in command
The better for him to protect
Oh, three more seconds
Two more seconds
Oh, God
Oh, Robbie
You're the President
And I′m the First Lady
First Lady
First Lady
Lucy is Lucy of the land
Oh, one term will never do
If you love me you will make it two
For you'll do
Everything for me
You'll sing for me
Play piano for me
And let Santo Luciano be sung for me
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
Lucy Hayes
My Lucy
Hayes Hayes Hayes
Writer(s): Leonard Bernstein, Alan Jay Lerner Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
