I've a friend who's in distress now, and Elizabeth's her name
Do you think you'll ever guess how she met with grief and shame?
Now, it isn't what you're thinking, for she's not that kind at all
And it isn't dope or drinking that caused the poor girl's fall.
My friend Elizabeth's out of temper, out of breath,
ever since she found skirts must trail upon the ground
She's got a better set of legs than even Mistinguett*
Now she's got to hide what was once her joy and pride
This fad of over-dressing's depressing, distressing
And catching men grows harder, their ardour's not so strong
My friend Elizabeth's tired of life and prays for death
How can she go wrong, now that skirts are long?
Instrumental
It's a tune that has no virtue of the purely chiastic kind,
but enough to disconcert you, for it's taken in your mind
How the Berlin song is slumming, while Vienna crooks do wrong
They cannot desist from humming this idiotic song:
[Kehrreim des deutschen Originals (bis)]
*Als diese Fassung anno 1930 herauskam, war Jeanne Bourgeois alias "Miss Tinguette" alias "M." noch ein internationaler Star. Sie sang nicht nur, sondern tanzte auch - vor allem in Pariser Nachtclubs und Striplokalen - und lie� daher ihre Beine hoch versichern. Na ja, was damals als "hoch" galt. Anno 1919, als sie die Versicherung abschlo�, waren 500.000 Francs noch viel Geld - zumal f�r die Beine einer mittlerweile 44-j�hrigen. Aber binnen weniger Jahre - nicht nur in Deutschland war Inflation - sank sein Wert auf etwa 1/10. Wie dem auch sei, ich habe hier ein paar Bilder zusammengetragen - zum einen Photographien, zum anderen Plakate von ihren Auftritten.
