Little bit off the top, A

Brown's a very old friend of mine
Once I went to his house to dine
Some of the ar-is-to-cracy were there
Every one of 'em thought me 'great'
And said, when they saw me lick my plate
That I must be an American millionaire
The waiter came into the room
With a beautiful lump of pork
And although I'd 'wolfed' enough to feed a town
I thought I'd like a sample of the crackling and the gravy
So I loosened out my vest and said to Brown,

Carve a little bit off the top for me, for me
Just a little bit off the top for me, for me
Saw me off a yard or two, I'll tell you when to stop
All I want is a little bit off the top.'

Once I made up my mind to roam
And spend a week by the briny foam
I'd never been far away from home before
Every one of the family
Were sorry indeed to part with me
They all love Willy, especially ma-in law
They all came up and asked me
For a lock of my golden hair
I clipped them from the back and from the side
At last I asked the missus which particular bit she fancied
And she rubbed her nose and lovingly replied,

Tear a little bit off the top for me, for me
Just a little bit off the top for me, for me
I'll fix it on the copper-stick
And use it for a mop
All I want is a little bit off the top.'

A classic music hall song from the late 1890s, this song was a great success for Harry Bedford, a performer who had a reputation for innuendo. It was also performed in pantomime by the queen of innuendo Marie Lloyd.The lyrics were written by the prolific Fred W Leigh. The song was hugely successful on both sides of the Atlantic, so much so that the phrase “a little bit of the top” seems to have entered early 20th century slang with at least 3 meanings:

• An example of higher quality material
• Slightly crazy
• Circumcision

The song borrows the tune usually referred to as ‘When Johnny comes marching home again‘ for its chorus, a tune that features a number of times in songs you’ll find on this site, see for example Hinky Dinky Parlez Vous .

The phrase “a little bit of the top”also appears in a song-fragment (RN29912) which sometimes occurs in children’s songs:

Oh I went into a barber’s shop and what do you think I got
Two black eyes and a broken nose and a little bit of the top

Collected by Roy Palmer from the singing of Brenda Bentall, BLSA

This is usually sung to the tune of “The Cock of the North” and does not seem to be directly derived from Bedford’s song.

A little bit off the top was recorded at the turn-of-the-century by Edward M Favor: many music hall artistes were suspicious of recording technology and it was not unusual for songs to be recorded by other artists.

The song has maintained its popularity that over the years, and it was something of a hit for actor/singer Chris Sandford in the 1960s. Given the possibility for double and even treble entendres, it’s not surprising that this song has given rise to parodies, see for example Little bit off the top, A (parody) and the Yiddish version below…

Edward M Favor sings it: