Only a bird in a gilded cage

AKA Bird in a gilded cage, A
First Published 1900
Writer/composer Arthur J Lamb, Harry Von Tilzer Roud RN4863

Music Hall Performers Florrie Forde, Marie Kendall
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Harvey, Roy / Hoke, Bob USA : W. Virginia; 1927
Rutherford, Leonard / Foster, John D.; USA : Indiana’ 1929
Mason, Mrs. F.N.; USA : Iowa : 1931
Purvis, Mrs.; USA : Iowa : 1931
Collins, J.O. USA : Iowa : Dakota City 1931
Mateer, Ethe;l USA : Arkansas ; 1951
Steggles, Stanley; England : Suffolk ; 1958
Fultz, Helen; USA : Arkansas : 1960
Downey, Jerome / Gale, Alf; Canada : Newfoundland : 1970
Marsden, Stanley; England : Yorkshire ; 1972
Droney, Katie; Ireland : Co Clare ; 1978
Hill, Marjorie; Canada : Ontario : 1981
Rowe, Cliff; England : Somerset : 1984 

The ballroom was filled with fashion's throng
It shone with a thousand lights
And there was a woman who passed along
The fairest of all the sights
A girl to her lover then softly sighed
“There's riches at her command”
“But she married for wealth not for love” he cried
Tho' she lives in a mansion grand.

She's only a bird in a gilded cage
A beautiful sight to see
You may think she's happy and free from care
She's not though she seems to be
'Tis sad when you think of her wasted life
For youth cannot mate with age
And her beauty was sold for an old man's gold
She's a bird in a silver cage.

The beautiful woman surveyed the scene
Her flatterers by the score
Her gems were the purest, her gown divine
So what could a woman want more
But memory brings back the face of a lad
Whose love she had turned aside
But happiness cannot be bought with gold
Although she's a rich man's bride.

I stood in a churchyard just at eve
When sunset adorned the West
And looked at the people who'd come to grieve
For loved ones now laid to rest
A tall marble monument marked the grave
Of one who'd been fashion's queen
And I thought she is happier here at rest
Than to have people say, when seen.

A huge global hit at the turn of the century, a Tin Pan Alley song written and composed by Arthur J Lamb and Harry Von Tilzer in New York. In the early 20th century it seems to have featured in the repertoire of dozens of major artists, from Bing Crosby to Charlie Poole, and the song has been described as the most successful sentimental ballad ever written. It was sung in the British Music Halls by Florrie Forde and Marie Kendall.

A song that millions loved to sing, so it’s not surprising it turned up many times in the repertoire of traditional singers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Arthur J Lamb (1870 – 1928) was born in England. He performed as a blackface minstrel in the United States before becoming a full-time songwriter on Tin Pan Alley, the home of commercial songwriting in the USA from the 1890s to the 1920s. He was a prolific lyricist his greatest hit was Only a bird in a gilded cage, but his other successes included Asleep in the Deep, The bird on Nellie’s hat, and You’ll splash me and I’ll splash you.

As sung by Florrie Forde:

The North Carolina Ramblers:

Sources: