LET'S HAVE A TIDDLEY AT THE MILK BAR
(Noel Gay)

as recorded by Nellie Wallace
with The New Mayfair Dance Orchestra
conducted by Ronnie Munro
October 1936


Milk bar;
I'd like to know
Just how they grow
And why we see them everywhere!
Milk bar;
Is it the dairy
Or the fairy
To decide to put them there?

Milk bar;
I used to think
It was a drink
For little kids of two or three.
Milk bar;
But now for days
The only way,
The daily way for you and me!

So let's have a tiddley at the milk bar,
Let's make a night of it tonight!
Let's have a tiddley at the milk bar,
Let's paint the town a lovely white!

You buy half a pint,
I'll buy half a pint,
We'll try to drink a pint somehow.
So let's have a tiddley at the milk bar,
And drink to the dear old cow!
(Ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!  Ah yes!)

Milk bars;
They sell the liquor
That the vicar
Can't complain about at all!
Milk bar;
You go to bed
Instead of sleeping in the hall!

Milk bar;
I wish they'd been
Upon the scene
When dear old father went astray!
Milk bars;
I don't suppose
His ruddy nose
Would be the same it is today!

So let's have a tiddley at the milk bar,
Let's make a night of it tonight.
Let's have a tiddley at the milk bar,
Let's paint the town a lovely white!

You buy half a pint,
I'll buy half a pint,
We'll try to drink a pint somehow.
So let's have a tiddley at the milk bar,
And drink to the dear old cow!

[spoken]

Now it's great, it's a glorious institution!
What do you do when you see an old friend?
You say, "Come and 'ave one!".
Now you take him by the arm,
You say, "Come and have a tiddley at the milk bar!".
Ha-ha!  And what's more you can have half a dozen,
And come out the same way as you went in!
No muzzy heads, no looking for a lamp post that isn't there!

[sung]

So let's have a tiddley at the milk bar,
And drink to the dear old cow!



(Transcribed by Peter Akers - December 2014)