Yes we have no bananas

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:

Sources:

  • Lyrics: monologues.co.uk
  • Baker British Music Hall
  • Kilgarriff: Sing Us
  • Kilgarriff: Grace, Beauty

As recorded by the Two Gilberts in the 1920s: