#192 - When I Was a Boy

Composer:
- Willard Spenser
  (1852-1933), 1882
- from the operetta Little Tycoon
  , Act I Number 7
Alternate title:
- When I Was a Boy—Little Tycoon
Also known as:
- Now When I Was a Boy
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Incipit: 56711721556711721554224311266175
Condensed Incipit: 5671721567172154243126175
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Lyrics:
Now, when I was a boy,
Woman without alloy,
Ne'er thought of disobeying,
Nor ever thought of saying
She would and that she wouldn't,
She could and that she couldn't,
But gentle, modest coy,
'Twas when I was a boy.

chorus:
'Twas all serene
like a calm sea-scene,
With a sailor's ship a-hoy,
Ahoy, ahoy, ahoy.
'Twas all serene,
like a canned sardine,
That was canned for the Siege of Troy,
Oh, 'twas when he was a boy.

Oh! she was soft and shrinking
And never thought of thinking,
But had it all done for her
By her superior adorer.
Whose knowledge elemental,
Statistic, transcendental,
Filled her with proudest joy;
'Twas when I was a boy.

But all of a snap this being,
So docile and agreeing,
Has turned into a lion,
The mastery to try on.
And tells me, in a flutter,
My lord must skip the gutter.
Such words she'd ne'er employ,
Now, when I was a boy.

(from another section:)
Now when I was a boy,
Woman without alloy —
Was just like my sweet daughter,
Submissive as I've taught her.
To please me now she'll marry
My chosen — Alvin Barry,
A man without alloy,
I've chosen from a boy
- Willard Spencer
  (1852-1933), 1882

Little Tycoon is known as the first successful American-written operetta.

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