Digital Tradition Mirror

Poor But Ambitious (Too Proud to Beg)

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Poor But Ambitious (Too Proud to Beg)

Too Proud to beg, too honest to steal
Employers please listen to my appeal,
Too proud to beg, too honest to steal,
Employers please listen to my appeal,
Night and day l'm walking the streets,
Nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep,
So kindhearted employers, my case is up to you,
Give me something to do.

I'm not asking for social equality,
To rank with Ihe rich in thcir company,
To drive around New York in their motor cars,
Or go to their penthouses, and smoke their cigars.
All I want is a job with a decent wage,
To exist now and provide for old age.
So kindhearted employers, my case is up to you,
Give me something to do.

From the day when I'd begun to sing
My mother told me I'd be a king.
She spoke to me confidentially
Saying, "The older you get, the better you'll be.
And when you sing your lavina song
It will cause trials and a sensation.
So kindhearted employers, my case is up to you,
Give me something to do.

The reason why l'm appealing to you
I've got a wife, four children and a mother, too.
Theyy reside in the West Indies
And they're depending on me financially
Friends, many days I fee@l I can die
I feel like committing suicide
So kindhearted employers, my case is up to you,
Give me something to do.

I'm not the crooner Rudy Vallee
Or the songbird, Mr. Bing Crosby
People I want you to understand
I am not Guy Lombardo nor Paul Whiteman
This is plain Papa Houdini
The calypso king of the West Indies
And every man was born to be free
And to be happy from suppression and miscry

RG

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!