Oh, Charley , Take it Away

AKAOh Charlie Take it Away
Mary Ann Matilda
First Published1926

Writer/composerElvin Hedges Fred Malcolm and Arthur Le ClerqRoudRN19674

Music Hall PerformersFlorrie Forde
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Legg, Viv; England : Cornwall; c2006
Mary Ann Matilda came to London town to see
A chap named Charlie Green, who for years she hadn't seen.
When she found he had grown a small moustache, she murmured "Oh!" 
He asked her if she liked it, and Matilda shouted "No!"

Oh, Charlie take it away. Oh, Charlie, take it away. 
It makes me feel so funny every time you start to kiss. 
It makes me quiver, it makes me shiver, 
It fills me full with bliss.
Oh, Charlie take it away! Oh, Charlie do what I say!
It's the little bit of hair you wear upon your upper lip.
It tickles me, Charlie! Take it away!

She asked him why he grew it, he replied, "Matilda dear,
I couldn't help it quite, for it sprung up in the night -
It might make you remember me" and Mary with a blush,
Replied "I'll think of you each time I see a scrubbing brush!"

Said Mary: "If that was in your system Charlie dear
There's not the slightest doubt, its a blessing you got them out!"
He tried to pacify her then, he kissed her rosy cheek
She shouted out: "You've stung me and I'll feel the sting for weeks!"

A comic song performed by traditional Romany singer Viv Legg as Mary Ann Matilda for collector John Adams in approximately 2006. The recording is available on VT153CD Romany Roots: ‘Cornish Family songs’ a CD/download from Veteran Mail Order.

The original song was written some 80 years earlier as a comedy march two-step and performed in the dance halls and music halls of the late 1920s.

The song was most associated with the singing of Florrie Forde , but it was also recorded by Harry Fay, Tom Gilbert and Paul Godwin’s Dance Orchestra, amongst others.

As recorded by Harry Fay:

Sources:

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