| Lyrics | Frank Silver and Irving Cohn | Music | Frank Silver and Irving Cohn | Roud | 32786 |
| Music Hall performers | Florrie Forde 1920s |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Ling, Ruby; England : Suffolk; 1975-80 Smith, James; England : Suffolk; 1975-79 |
There's a fruit store down our street, It's run by a Greek And he keeps good things to eat, but you should hear him speak When you ask for anything, he never answers, 'No' He just yesses you to death,and as he takes your dough, he tells you. 'Yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today We've broad beans like bunions, cabbages and onions And all kinds of fruit, and say, we have the old fashioned tomato The nice Jersey potato, but yes, we have no bananas We have no bananas today.' Business got so good with him he wrote home to say Send me Pete, Nick and Jim, I need help right away. When he got them in the store, there was fun, you bet Someone asked for sparrow-grass and then the whole quartet. All answered, 'Yes we have no bananas. We have no bananas today We've coconuts and doughnuts and some nuts like no nuts And walnuts that passed away. We've got some large Filberts and Brazils, called Gilberts and Basils But, yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today.' 'Yes, we have no bananas. we have no bananas today We've turnips and cow-cumbers, fresh leeks for plumbers And runners that run away. We've got carrots, garlic and gherkins grown by Mrs Perkins But, yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today.'
A hit from the 1920s whose chorus is well remembered, but you do hear the full song occasionally in singarounds.
Yes We have no bananas first appeared as part of the American revue, Make It Snappy in 1922. Florrie Forde initially turned the song down, but a year later just about everybody, including Florrie, was singing it…
Florrie Forde (1875-1940) was born in Australia, daughter of a mason. Her career started in Australia in 1893, but she came to England in 1897 as an unknown, but within a few months was a roaring success. Always extravagantly dressed onstage with jewels and furs, she commanded the stage and the audience as she strode confidently about singing her songs. She regularly played to holidaymakers on the Isle of Man, which explains the lyrics to some of her hits which included Oh! Oh! Antonio!, Has anybody here seen Kelly?, Good-byee, and Flanagan. Other songs associated with Florrie that have appeared in the repertoire of traditional singers include:
- Are We Downhearted? No!
- Come in the parlour, Charley
- Daisy Bell
- Has anyone seen a German band?
- Only a bird in a gilded cage
- Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
- The Pretty little girl from nowhere
- Sailing in my balloon
- She’s a lassie from Lancashire
- Side by side
- Sing! sing! why shouldn’t we sing?
- Take me back to dear old Blighty
- Turned up
- Waiting at the church
Sources:
- Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
- Baker British Music Hall
- Kilgarriff: Sing Us
- Kilgarriff: Grace, Beauty
As recorded by the Two Gilberts in the 1920s:
Last Updated on January 5, 2024 by John Baxter | Published: April 25, 2020
