Hey! Polly (Ralph Chaplin)

“Hey! Polly” Sheet Music (pdf).
“Hey! Polly” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).

Lyrics: Ralph Chaplin.
Tune: “Yankee Doodle.”


The politician prowls around
For workers’ votes entreating;
He claims to know the slickest way
To give the boss a beating.

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.

He claims to be the bosses’ foe,
On workers’ friendship doting.
He says, “Don’t fight while on the job,
But do it all by voting.”

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.

“Elect me to the office, boys;
Let all your rage pass o’er you;
Don’t bother with your countless wrongs;
I’ll do your fighting for you.”

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.

He says that sabotage won’t do
(It isn’t to his liking)
And that without his mighty aid,
There is no use in striking.

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.

He says that he can lead us all
To some fair El Dorado,
But he’s of such a yellow hue,
He casts a golden shadow.

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.

He begs and coaxes, threatens, yells,
For shallow glory thirsting.
In fact, he’s just a bag of wind
That’s swollen up to bursting.

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.

The smiling bosses think he’d like
To boodle from their manager;
And as he never mentions “strike,”
They know there is no danger.

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.

And all the while he spouts and spiels,
He’s musing undetected
On what a lovely snap he’ll have
When once he is elected.

Polly, we can’t use you, dear,
To lead us into clover;
This fight is ours, and as for you,
Clear out or get run over.


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