He’d never been there before : (he’s going there every night)

AKAMy sister Sue
She’d never been there before
First Published1897

This page quotes lyrics which contain offensive language, reflecting attitudes common in the period when this song was first performed.

Writer/composerFred Murray and Fred W Leigh / George Le BrunnRoudRN23574

Music Hall PerformersMarie Loftus
Folk performancesCollected from the singing of:
Neal, Jesse; England : Gloucestershire; 1960
Lammin, Charles; England : Lincolnshire; 1967
Rowe, Cliff; England : Somerset; 1977
Modern performances:
Mike Reid, The Punters, Billy Cotton
My sister Sue was always such a silly little coon
She never seemed to understand the proper way to spoon
Her young man asked her recently to sit upon his knee
When she at last consented, she behaved so bashfully.

She'd never been there before, never been there before
She felt so shy till Mr Brown
Started to bounce her up and down
Then it was all serene, it filled her with delight
She'd never been there before, but now she's going there every night.

A curate had a notion once that made him very sad
He used to think that ballet girls were everything that's bad
Said he, 'I'll go and preach to them' he meant to give them 'beans'
But didn't he feel funny when he got behind the scenes.

He'd never been there before, never been there before
He got on well with the ladies there
Some of the beauties curled his hair
Tickled him in the ribs, it filled him with delight
He'd never been there before, but now he's going there every night.

One night a burly policemen was a-strolling on his beat
And chanced to turn his lantern down an 'airy' from the street
The cook was standing on the steps, she cried, "Oh deary me
I feel so very lonely, won't you keep me company.”

He'd never been there before, never been there before
He found the cookie a regular treat
Discovered a lovely joint of meat
Cuddled the slavey's waist, squeezed it nice and tight
He'd never been there before, but now he's going there every night.

A lady friend of mine whose husband's such a stingy man
Resolved at last to work upon the good old fashioned plan
So while the beauty slept one night, she seized upon the chance
Jumped out of bed, and dived into the pockets of his pants.

She'd never been there before, never been there before
She felt so awfully pleased to see,
That Willy was snoring peacefully
Only took half-a crown and nearly died of fright
She'd never been there before, but she's going there every night.

A song collected from several traditional singers in southern England, Never been there before has also been widely sung by folk revival singers in Newfoundland. The Newfoundland version is derived from the repertoire of the renowned local poet/singer/publisher Johnny Burke, who seems to have slightly modified a number of Music Hall and Vaudeville songs and republished them under his own name, other examples are: The Trinity Cake, Cod liver oil, and Old Brown’s daughter.

The song was first sung in the Halls in 1897 by Marie Loftus, lyrics by Fred Murray and Fred W Leigh, music composed by George Le Brunn. It was the subject of a minor dispute over a different song of the same name, as shown in these letters to The Era:

 Nov. 20, 1897; The Era 
Nov. 27, 1897; The Era

The song was revived by Billy Cotton in the early 1950s…

Here’s a recording made for the BBC for its Thirsty Work radio series in the early 1940s – for more information see Katie Howson’s excellent Unsunghistories site . The singer is probably Bill Norledge :

Sources:

image_print