A WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY
From the film "THE BARKLEYS OF BROADWAY (1949)
(Harry Warren / Ira Gershwin)

Sung by:
Fred Astaire as Josh
Ginger Rogers as Dinah
Oscar Levant as Ezra

(Josh:) With golf and tennis 'round you
And no cares to hound you;
(Dinah:) When Mother Nature beckons, who can decline?
(Ezra:) Till Mother Nature vetoes
The bees and mosquitoes,
Mother Nature is no mother of mine!
(Josh & Dinah:) From Saturday night to Monday morn,
There's always joy ahead;
(Ezra:) From Saturday night to Monday morn,
I wish that I were dead!

(Josh & Dinah:) A weekend in the country
Never will let you down;
(Ezra:) You'll pardon my effront'ry,
I'd rather spend it in town.
(Josh & Dinah:) A weekend in the country,
Healthy and full of sport:
(Dinah:) And then it isn't small potatoes
(Josh:) When you get those fresh tomatoes,
(Ezra:) I've a list of fresh tomatoes
Suing me now in court!

(Dinah:) Ah, gimme the milk from the moo cow,
(Josh:) Of corn right from the field I'm fond;
(Ezra:) In town I'd be splurgin'
On Venison and Sturgeon
Bestride a beautiful blonde.
(Josh & Dinah:) A weekend gets you sunburned,
Vitamin A you win;
(Ezra:) I'd rather get back unburned
With my original skin.
(Josh & Dinah:) A weekend in the country,
Glorious, there's no doubt;
(Ezra:) A weekend in the country,
What's the next train out?

(Josh & Dinah:) A weekend in the country,
Trees in the orchard call;
(Ezra:) When you've examined one tree,
Then you've examined them all.
(Josh & Dinah:) A weekend in the country,
Happily we endorse:
(Dinah:) Come get your share of nature's bounty,
(Josh:) Ride the trail around the county;
(Ezra:) I am no Canadian mounty,
Why do I need a horse?

(Dinah:) Hark, hark to the song of the bull frog,
(Josh:) At dawn, you'll rise up with the lark;
(Ezra:) When roosters will riot,
I'd much prefer the quiet
Of Forty-Second and Park.
(Josh & Dinah:) Get peppy and alivey,
Don't be a city poke!
(Ezra:) I once got poison ivy,
(Dinah:) Will you try for poison oak?
(Josh:) A weekend in the country,
(Dinah:) Dickey-bird's overhead,
(Ezra:) A weekend in the country,
I should have stayed in bed!