He’d never been there before : (he’s going there every night)
AKA | My sister Sue She’d never been there before |
First Published | 1897 |
This page quotes lyrics which contain offensive language, reflecting attitudes common in the period when this song was first performed.
Writer/composer | Fred Murray and Fred W Leigh / George Le Brunn | Roud | RN23574 |
Music Hall Performers | Marie Loftus |
Folk performances | Collected 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:
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:
- Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A23574
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics and sheet music: monologues.co.uk
- Mudcat thread on Johnny Burke
- https://pennyspoetry.fandom.com/wiki/Johnny_Burke
- http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/static/images/sheets/10000/08259.gif