I'M LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER
From the film "Hollywood Hotel" (1938)
(Richard Whiting / Johnny Mercer)
Dick Powell & Rosemary Lane - 1938


DICK POWELL:
Ev'rybody says I'm witty
I can even please my boss,
I took Pelmanism to give me magnetism
So I could put myself across
And so it really seems a pity
You put me at a total loss

I'm like a fish out of water when I'm with you
Just like J.P. Morgan swingin' it on the organ
Or Dizzy Dean with no ballyhoo
Everytime that I'm with you

I'm like a fish out of water when you're around
I'm like Eddie Cantor doing a bandy banter
Or Colonel Lindbergh upon the ground
Whenever you're around

I feel so small and I get red as a peach
I trip and fall, I'm all hands and feet

I'm quite a card and a cut-up around the boys
But you make me shut-up and lose my poise
It's a funny thing what love can do
I'm like a fish out of water with you

ROSEMARY LANE:
Though I'm good at conversation
Though I've been around a lot
Though I make a showing to keep the party going
When the party's not so hot
In spite of my sophistication
You put me in an awful spot

I'm like a fish out of water when I'm with you
Like Marian Tally doing a Rudy Vallee
Or Mickey Mouse as an ingenue
Everytime that I'm with you

I'm like a fish out of water when you're around
I'm like Ginger Rogers running the Brooklyn Dodgers
I'm on most unfamiliar ground
Whenever you're around

My whole life through I've always known what to say
But now with you, it all goes away

Exactly like Man O' War as an also ran
Or like Sally Rand if she lost her fan
You can make me feel the same way too
I'm like a fish out of water with you

RL: I feel all wet and it's no wonder I do
DP: That's how I get when I'm with you
BOTH: So if I act like a dummy and seem insane
And won't even come in out of the rain
DP: It's a funny thing what love can do
BOTH: I'm like a fish out of water with you



(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - March 23rd, 2003)