I live in Trafalgar Square

Lyrics CW Murphy Music CW Murphy Roud RN30332

Music Hall performers Morny Cash
Folk performances Richard Thompson

Today I've been busy removing
And I'm all of a fidgety-fidge
My last digs were on the Embankment
The third seat from Waterloo Bridge
But the cooking and, oh! The attendance
Didn't happen to suit me so well
So I ordered my man to pack up, and
Look out for another hotel
He did, and the new place is 'extra', I vow
Just wait till I tell you where I'm staying now

 I live in Trafalgar Square
With four lions to guard me
Fountains and statues all over the place
And the 'Metropole' staring me right in the face
I'll own it's a trifle draughty
But I look at it this way you see
If it's good enough for Nelson
It's quite good enough for me

The beds ain't so soft as they might be
Still the temperature's never too high
And it's nice to see swells who are passing
Look on you with envious eye
And when you wake in the morning
To have a good walk for your breakfast
And the same for your dinner and tea
There's many a swell up in Park Lane tonight
Who'd be glad if he only had my appetite


When I think of those unlucky bounders
The Morgans and Clarence de Clares
Who are forced to put up at the 'Cecil'
My tenderest sympathy's theirs
And to show I'm not selfish or greedy
I just tell each aristocrat
That I don't mind exchanging apartments
Now, I can't say fairer than that
But the softheaded sillies won't hear what I say
They still go on suffering, while I'm all O.K.
Written by CW Murphy in 1902, and performed around that time by Morny Cash in 1908, this song later appeared in the repertoire of Stanley Holloway in the late 1950s.

Sources:

Sheet Music: Bumper Book of Music Hall Songs

Kilgfarriff Sing us one

Hear Richard Thompson sing it: