IN THE FALL OF '29
(W. Lee O'Daniel)


W. Lee O'Daniel & His Light Crust Doughboys, 1933






(Why, hello there, mister iceman. Where have I seen your face?)
Please don't try to tease me, mister, just because I lost the race
I was once a great big banker, worth a million for a time
But I lost the whole kaboodle in the fall of twenty-nine

In the fall of twenty-nine, in the fall of twenty-nine
That's when we started sliding, in the fall of twenty-nine
'Twas a fall of fifty-fifty, you lost yours and I lost mine
But it made us all more human since the fall of twenty-nine

(Hey there, mister taxi driver. Where have I seen you before?)
Listen, buddy, I'm the fella who had stocks and bonds galore
My office was on Wall Street, ev'rything was going fine
But my stocks and bonds all vanished in the fall of twenty-nine 

In the fall of twenty-nine, in the fall of twenty-nine
That's when we started sliding, in the fall of twenty-nine
'Twas a fall of fifty-fifty, you lost yours and I lost mine
But it made us all more human since the fall of twenty-nine

(Hey there, mister apple vendor, with that old familiar toot)
Gee whiz, you do remember, I'm the guy who played the flute
I was making lots of money, the way I spent it was a crime
But my income stopped completely in the fall of twenty-nine 

In the fall of twenty-nine, in the fall of twenty-nine
That's when we started sliding, in the fall of twenty-nine
'Twas a fall of fifty-fifty, you lost yours and I lost mine
But it made us all more human since the fall of twenty-nine

(Who's that ringing our front doorbell? She has magazines to sell)
Well, wouldn't that surprise you! If it isn't Missus Swell
She used to lead the whole 'Four Hundred', had twelve servants all the time
But it seems she got a setback in the fall of twenty-nine 

In the fall of twenty-nine, in the fall of twenty-nine
That's when we started sliding, in the fall of twenty-nine
'Twas a fall of fifty-fifty, you lost yours and I lost mine
But it made us all more human since the fall of twenty-nine

There were folks in high-up places before the fall of twenty-nine
But now you find their faces in that good old free bread line
We thought we were intelligent before that fateful fall
But now we've come to realize we didn't know it all 

In the fall of twenty-nine, in the fall of twenty-nine
That's when we started sliding, in the fall of twenty-nine
'Twas a fall of fifty-fifty, you lost yours and I lost mine
But it made us all more human since the fall of twenty-nine






(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - January 2015)