Sometimes a song stops you in your tracks

[fingertrouble]

Where do we turn? Where do we go?
Riddle me this!

Who's the master mind of the puppet show?
Riddle me this!

Whom do we pay, who's the croupier?
Riddle me this!

Who's the one that sweeps all the stakes away?
Riddle me this!

Love a little, sing a little,
Play the game and win a little,
Only to lose.

Listen to the money jingle,
Isn't it a funny jingle,
Ending with blues!

What is the song? What is the rhyme?
Riddle me this!

Are there any odds on the wheel of time?
Riddle me this!

Written in 1932, during the depths of the Great Depression.

By the guy who wrote Over the Rainbow (Yip Harburg) - probably never heard of that tune, no-one has ;-)

Comments

[mellowtigger]

Nice lyrics. Any idea where to find a recording online?

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

It's very much out of mechanical copyright so I'm offended by the idea of others paying for a copy of it (that's the idea of copyright!) - it's available as part of a ZIP compilation here:

http://pagingmrvolstead.blogspot.com/2008/12/lets-have-another-cup-of-coffee.html

Secret word is 'volstead'.

Abe Lyman is the version I have. A lot of the Depression era tunes I'm rocking to are here also, in fact I was looking online for this out of print CD. Result!