Spaniard that blighted my life, The

First Published1909

Writer/composerBilly MersonRoudRN10666

Music Hall PerformersBilly Merson
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
[Seal-hunter]Marky; Canada : Newfoundland 1923
Marsden, Stanley; England : Yorkshire 1971
Mills, Bob; England : Hampshire; 1978
Hart, Bob; England : Suffolk; 1975-78
Showers, Charlie; England : Somerset; 1982
Modern performances
Stanley Holloway
List to me while I tell you of
The Spaniard that blighted my life. Ah, Ah, Ah,
List to me while I tell you of
The man that pinched my future wife. Ah
“Twas at the bullfight that we met him
We'd been watching his daring display
And while I'd gone out for some nuts and a programme
The dirty dog stole her away, Oh yes (Oh yes) Oh yes (Oh yes)
But I've sworn to have my revenge.

If I catch Alphonse Spagone the toreador, Ah, Ah, Ah,
With a mighty swipe I will dislocate his bally jaw
Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah,
I'll fight the bullfighter I will (He will)
And when I catch the bounder, the blighter I'll kill
He shall die (He shall die). He shall die (I'll kill him)
He shall die tid-dly-i-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti-ti
He shall die, he shall die
For I'll raise a bunion on his Spanish onion
If I catch him bending tonight.

Yes, when I catch Spagoni he will wish that he'd never been born
Ah, Ah, Ah,
And for this special reason my stiletto I've fetched out of porn
Ah
It cost me five shillings to fetch it
This expense it has caused me much pain
But the pawnbroker's promised when I've killed Spagoni
He'll take it in pawn once again, Oh yes (Oh yes) Oh yes (Oh yes)
So tonight there will be dirty work.


I tracked him to London and he gave me the slip once again
Ah, Ah, Ah,
And they told me this morning, that he'd doubled and gone back to Spain
Ah,
But whatever it costs me I'll catch him
Then no more he will give me the slip
With my last one and nine pence on Sunday
I'm going to Spain by the Sunday League Trip,
Oh yes (Oh yes) Oh yes (Oh yes)
And then the dark deed will be done.

Billy Merson originally wrote and performed this mock operatic song for the pantomime Dick Whittington when he couldn’t get permission to sing Wilkie Bard’s I want to sing in opera. It later became a million selling hit twice over for Al Jolson, the first time in 1913, and the second in 1947 as a duet with Bing Crosby. Jolson sang the song without permission in the 1928 film The Singing Fool, Merson sued for copyright infringement and despite winning the case was bankrupted by the expense.

Billy Merson (1881-1947) was the stage name of William Henry Thompson. I suspect he was a born storyteller, as the details of his life vary significantly in different sources. One reasonably certain fact is that he was born in Nottingham, where he may have worked in the telephone service and/or the lacemaking industry. In the evenings he was an amateur Music Hall performer until he joined the circus as an acrobat and clown. At some point he started appearing in the Halls as part of a struggling double act Keith and Merson and he scraped a living of several years until he became a solo “overnight success” after appearing at the Oxford in 1909. He wrote and sang songs, acted on stage and film, and even briefly set up his own film production company. Whilst he had some success outside of the Halls, he always returned there, where the audiences always insisted that he sang The Spaniard that blighted my life.

The song has been taken up and sung by number of traditional singers, but I suspect it was always well known that this was a Music Hall song.

Sources:

Last Updated on August 12, 2021 by John Baxter | Published: August 12, 2021

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