PUBLIC SWEETHEART NUMBER ONE

(W. Graham John, M. Martin Broones)


Billy Cotton & His Band
V. Alan Breeze]
Recorded 8th October 1835



Back in eleven hundred eighty
There was a famous lady
And when her husband's charm was fading
He went away crusading
Went away to war and left her flat
She did not have time to think of that
War is war and in war she knew
There was work that only girls could do
So while the others were bally-hooing
Night and day she was doing
Quiet little acts of charity
And what did they call that lady

Public sweetheart number one
Loved by every mother's son
While her old man was away
She did one good deed each day
She should care if she was missed
From the New Year's Honours List
She had fame and much more fun
As public sweetheart number one

(Musical Break)

When our crusader left his charmer
He had the girl encased in
Some little bit of his own armour
So she could keep her waist in
When the village blacksmith carefully
Hammered her into her lingerie
Though she thrilled at the way it shone
She felt funny with a padlock on
One minute after her man departed
Stormy weather hadn't started
Who do you imagine called on her
But Richard the Lion-Hearted
How could she attempt to run
When her costume weighed a ton
She just looked at him and sighed
'Hotcha, am I fortified'
How on earth could she foresee
He possessed the master key
And the fireworks had begun
For public sweetheart number one.

Transcribed from John Wright's 78 RPM Record Collection




(Transcribed by Bill Huntley - January 2013)