Waiting at the church

AKA	My wife won’t let me

Lyrics

Fred Leigh

Music

Henry Pether

Roud

V53409

I'm in a nice bit of trouble, I confess
Somebody with me has had a game
I should by now be a proud and happy bride
But I've still got to keep my single name
I was proposed to by Obadiah Binks, in a very gentlemanly way
Lent him all my money so that he could buy a home
And punctually at twelve o'clock today.

 There was I waiting at the church
Waiting at the church, waiting at the church
When I found he'd left me in the lurch
Lor', how it did upset me
All at once he sent me round a note
Here's the very note, and this is what he wrote
"Can't get away to marry you today,
My wife won't let me".

Lor, what a fuss Obadiah made of me
When he used to take me in the Park
He used to squeeze me till I was black and blue
When he kissed me he used to leave a mark
Each time he met me he treated me to port
Took me now and then to see the play
Understand me rightly, when I say he treated me
It wasn't but me that used to pay.


Just think how disappointed I must feel
I'll be off me crumpet pretty soon
I've lost my husband the one I never had
And I dreamed so about the honeymoon
I'm looking for another Obadiah
I've already bought the wedding ring
There's all my fal-the -riddles packed up in my box
Yes, absolutely two of everything.

Perhaps the best known music hall song, made famous by Vesta Victoria, but also in the repertoire of her contemporary, Florrie Forde. The lyrics were written by the prolific Fred W Leigh. Sung regularly wherever people of a certain age sing together…

Vesta Victoria (1873-1951) started out young as “Baby Victoria”, became “Little Victoria”, and eventually became “Vesta Victoria the Queen of the Music Halls”. Also popular in the States, her strap-lines included the classic: A Vesta will strike anywhere! She had a string of other hits including: Daddy would’t buy me a bow wow, Our lodger’s such a nice young man, and Poor John.

Hugely successful, she was worth around £3.25 million (by today’s standards £975 million). She lost most of her money to swindlers, and when she died in 1951 she had less and £16,000 worth of assets.

The song was famously performed (well a snatch of it) by Prime Minister James Callaghan (1912-2005) at the TUC annual congress in September 1978, denying that there would be a general election any time soon (it came in 1979…) 

Sources:

• Killgarriff: Songs
• Killgarriff: Grace
• Sheet Music: Bumper Book of Music Hall Songs

Florrie Forde recorded in 1906: