The Man On The Flying Trapeze
written by gaston lyle & alfred lee
lyrics by george leybourne
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THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE - sung with altered lyrics
THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE (POPEYE) 1934
THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE (POPEYE) 1934
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The Man On The Flying Trapeze is a well-known 19th century song about a well-known circus performer - Jules Leotard. The popular flying trapeze performer was the first circus performer known to wear skin-tight clothing - the style was later named after him. The song was written by British lyricist and singer George Leybourne. In 1932 the song was recorded with adapted lyrics by vaudeville performer Walter O'Keefe, and the song was recorded by numerous people in 1932 and 1933. The popular song became a major hit in 1934, and it appeared on stage and on the big screen several times that year. It appeared in the Oscar-winning Frank Capra film It Happened One Night, and it appeared the Our Gang short Fright Night. It was also sung by Rudy Vallee in the Broadway revue George White's Scandals, and it appeared in the film Twenty Million Sweethearts. Also in 1934, the song was used for the basis and title of a Popeye cartoon, which featured a caricature of Jules Leotard, and the song was again used later that year in the Popeye short A Dream Walking. The following year, the song appeared in the 1935 Popeye short Hyp-Nut-Tist.
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1932
WALTER O'KEEFE |
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1932
HENRY HALL |
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1933
DICK ROBERTSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA |
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1934
from the film IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT |
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1934
EDDIE CANTOR |
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19??
BILLY COSTELLO as POPEYE |
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1934
DONALD PEERS |
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1934
FRED DOUGLAS |
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1935
PRIMO SCALA'S ACCORDEON BAND |
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1937
DON REDMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA |
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193?
BURT IVES |
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1941
GENE AUTRY from the film UNDER FIESTA STARS |
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1943
VIRGINIA O'BRIEN |
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19??
MITCH MILLER |
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1947
SPIKE JONES |
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1958
THE GASLIGHT ORCHESTRA |
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1967
LEAPY LEE |
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19??
BLOOD TUB ORCHESTRA |
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19??
from THE ALVIN SHOW |
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2006
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN |
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VINTAGE FLYING TRAPEZE
THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE
Once I was happy, but now I'm forlorn,
Like an old coat that is tattered and torn;
Left in this wide world to weep and to mourn,
Betrayed by a maid in her teens.
Now this girl that I loved, she was handsome,
And I tried all I knew her to please,
But I never could please her one quarter so well
As the man on the flying trapeze.
chorus:
Oh, he floats through the air with the greatest of ease,
This daring young man on the flying trapeze;
His actions are graceful, all girls he does please,
My love he has purloined away.
He'd play with a miss like a cat with a mouse,
His eyes would undress every girl in the house.
Perhaps he is better described as a louse,
But the people they came just the same.
Oh, he'd smile from his perch on the people below
And one day he smiled on my love.
She blew him a kiss and she hollered, "Bravo!"
As he hung by his nose up above.
Oh, l wept and I whimpered, I simpered for weeks,
While she spent her time with the circus's freaks
The tears were like hailstones that rolled down my cheeks,
Alas, and alack, and alacka!
I went to this fellow, the blackguard, and said,
"I'll see that you get your deserts!"
He put up his thumb to his nose with a sneer,
He sneered once again, and said, "Nertz!"
One night to his tent he invited her in,
He filled her with compliments, kisses, and gin
And started her out on the road to ru-in,
Since then l have known no repose.
But e'en now l loved her, I said, "Take my name!
I'll gladly forgive and forget;"
She rustled her bustle without any shame,
Saying, "Well, maybe later, not yet."
One night as usual l went to her home,
And found there her father and mother alone,
I asked for my love, and it soon was made known,
To my horror, that she'd run away.
Without any trousseau, she'd fled in the night
With him with the greatest of ease,
From two stories high he'd lowered her down
To the ground on his flying trapeze.
Some months after that l went into a hall,
And to my surprise I found there on the wall,
A bill in red letters which did my heart gall,
That she was appearing with him.
Oh, he'd taught her gymnastics,
And dressed her in tights,
To help him to live at his ease,
He'd made her take on a masculine name,
And now she goes on the trapeze.
(Last chorus:)
Oh, she floats through the air with the greatest of ease,
You'd think her a man on the flying trapeze,
She does all the work while he takes his ease,
And that's what's become of my love.
Once I was happy, but now I'm forlorn,
Like an old coat that is tattered and torn;
Left in this wide world to weep and to mourn,
Betrayed by a maid in her teens.
Now this girl that I loved, she was handsome,
And I tried all I knew her to please,
But I never could please her one quarter so well
As the man on the flying trapeze.
chorus:
Oh, he floats through the air with the greatest of ease,
This daring young man on the flying trapeze;
His actions are graceful, all girls he does please,
My love he has purloined away.
He'd play with a miss like a cat with a mouse,
His eyes would undress every girl in the house.
Perhaps he is better described as a louse,
But the people they came just the same.
Oh, he'd smile from his perch on the people below
And one day he smiled on my love.
She blew him a kiss and she hollered, "Bravo!"
As he hung by his nose up above.
Oh, l wept and I whimpered, I simpered for weeks,
While she spent her time with the circus's freaks
The tears were like hailstones that rolled down my cheeks,
Alas, and alack, and alacka!
I went to this fellow, the blackguard, and said,
"I'll see that you get your deserts!"
He put up his thumb to his nose with a sneer,
He sneered once again, and said, "Nertz!"
One night to his tent he invited her in,
He filled her with compliments, kisses, and gin
And started her out on the road to ru-in,
Since then l have known no repose.
But e'en now l loved her, I said, "Take my name!
I'll gladly forgive and forget;"
She rustled her bustle without any shame,
Saying, "Well, maybe later, not yet."
One night as usual l went to her home,
And found there her father and mother alone,
I asked for my love, and it soon was made known,
To my horror, that she'd run away.
Without any trousseau, she'd fled in the night
With him with the greatest of ease,
From two stories high he'd lowered her down
To the ground on his flying trapeze.
Some months after that l went into a hall,
And to my surprise I found there on the wall,
A bill in red letters which did my heart gall,
That she was appearing with him.
Oh, he'd taught her gymnastics,
And dressed her in tights,
To help him to live at his ease,
He'd made her take on a masculine name,
And now she goes on the trapeze.
(Last chorus:)
Oh, she floats through the air with the greatest of ease,
You'd think her a man on the flying trapeze,
She does all the work while he takes his ease,
And that's what's become of my love.
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