THAT'S HOW THE LITTLE GIRL GOT ON


as recorded by Marie Lloyd
May 4th 1903


A clever young lady,
Charming Miss Sadie,
Her way to town one morning she was taking.
But she didn't try for
The paths that were high, for
She started in a humble way, dressmaking.
The firm that engaged her, 
just like a bird they chase her,
All day the little darling was on show.
Her employers beamed upon her
And tried all their dresses on her,
For she took them to a fancy clothes show.

So clever, so clever,
Everyone said, "Did you ever?",
She was as peaceful as a swan.
She made all the johnnies gape,
They got mashed upon her shape,
And that's how the little girl got on!

The other young ladies
Were jealous of Sadie's
Advancement through the medium of her figure.
Her past life they raked up,
And touched up and faked up,
and then they threw it at her with a snigger.
(ha-ha-ha-ha!)
With much satisfaction,
They said her low extraction
Contaminated all the others there.
But the tricky little Sadie
Tried on for a titled lady,
She said, "'Tisn't what I was, it's what I wear!".
(ha-ha-ha!)

So clever, so clever,
Everyone said, "Did you ever?",
She was as peaceful as a swan.
And when they kicked her, jealous cats,
All the darling said was, "Rats!",
And that's how the little girl got on!

So clever, so clever,
Everyone said, "Did you ever?",
She was as peaceful as a swan.
And when they kicked her, jealous cats,
All the darling said was, "Rats!",
And that's how the little girl got on!



(Transcribed by Peter Akers - August 2015)