
Track Title:               The Real American Folk Song (Is A Rag)


Prime Artist:              Nora Bayes
Lyrics by:                 Ira Gershwin     (b. Israel Gershvin)
Music by:                  George Gershwin     (b. Jacob Gershvin)

From the Show:             Ladies First  1918 (S)

Lyrics:

(Note:  "This was Ira Gershwin's first lyric to be performed in any
show.")

Verse 1

Near Barcelona the peasant croons
The old traditional Spanish tunes;
The Neapolitan Street Song sighs~
You think of Italian skies.
Each nation has a creative vein
Originating a native strain,
With folk songs plaintive and others gay
In their own peculiar way.
American folk songs, I feel,
Have a much stronger appeal.

Refrain

The real American folk song is a rag~
A mental jag~
A rhythmic tonic for the chronic blues.
The critics called it a joke song, but now
They've changed their tune
And they like it somehow.
For it's inoculated
With a syncopated
Sort of meter,
Sweeter
Than a classic strain;
Boy!  You can't remain
Still and quiet~
For it's a riot!
The real American folk song
Is like a Fountain of Youth:
You taste, and it elates you,
And then invigorates you.
The real American folk song~
A masterstroke song~
IS A RAG!

Verse 2

You may dislike or you may adore
The native songs from a foreign shore;
They may be songs that you can't forget,
They may be distinctive, yet~
They lack something: a certain snap,
The tempo ticklish that makes you tap,
The invitation to agitate~
And leave the rest to Fate.
A raggy refrain anytime
Sends me a message sublime.

Repeat Refrain

Contributed by Carlene Bogle
<Piscescar9@cs.com>
www.thepeaches.com/music/

