In these hard times

AKA
First published 1924
Lyrics RP Weston Music Fred Barnes Roud RN23324

Music Hall Performers  Whit Cunliffe 1920/30s
Folk performances Source singer:
Ernie Payne, 1979, Avon, England
Bill Smith, 1982, Shropshire, England
Modern performances:
Roy Bailey		 

Things are bad, awful bad,
In fact they've never been worse before
But every single chappie can make a girlie happy
Food is dear, rent is dear,
But love is cheap for the time of year
So grab the nearest Miss
And whisper while you kiss.

In these hard times you've got to put up with anything
In these hard times you mustn't pick and choose'
And if you're nice, and squeeze her tight
She'll ask you round tomorrow night
If you don't mind sitting without a light
In these hard times.

Farmer Brown came to town
He spent the day at the cattle show
Then went to wet his whistle, inside the hotel Cecil
Lady fair, near him there
Had all her neck and shoulders bare
Said Farmer Brown 'Alack'
As he saw her dainty back.

In these hard times you've got to put up with anything
In these hard times you mustn't pick and choose
This fancy kind of o' dress ye wear
Leaves all ye neck and shoulders bare
But you're lucky to be dressed up to there.'
In these hard times.

Missis Green, rather mean
Went out last Saturday marketing
And saw out in the gutter, a codfish on a shutter
She felt its gums, poked her thumbs
All round the fish and she said 'Oh crumbs
It don't look nice at all'
Then the coster had to bawl

In these hard times you've got to put up with anything
In these hard times you mustn't pick and choose'
That codfish there's a sacrifice,
And I ask ye Ma'am would you look nice
If you'd 'ave been torpedoed twice, in these hard times?'

From the prolific pen of RP Weston, this time with Fred Barnes, a song remembered by traditional performers half a century later. A song reflecting wartime austerity, but published a few years after the Great War.

Whit Cunliffe (1876-1966), described affectionately by one of the historians of the halls, MacQueen-Pope, as somehow both “a man of the people”, and “a bit of a dandy“. He dressed in a “mauve frock coat and other garments to match” and seemed to have a knack for getting the audience involved in his songs and repartee.

Sources:

Roy Bailey sings it: