Not for Joseph

AKA Not for Joe
First Published 1867
Writer/composer Arthur Lloyd Roud RN13681

Music Hall Performers Arthur Lloyd
Folk performances Collected from the singing of:
Pardon, Walter; England, Norfolk; 1978		 

Joseph Baxter is my name; my friends all call me Joe
I'm up, you know, to ev'ry game, and ev'rything I know
Ah! I once was green as green could be, I suffered for it though:
Now, if they try it on with me, I tell them 'Not for Joe'

'Not for Joe', 'not for Joe'
If he knows it 'Not for Joseph'
No, no, no 'Not for Joe'
'Not for Joseph', oh, dear no.

I used to throw my cash about, in a reckless sort of way
I'm careful now what I'm about, and cautious how I pay:
Now the other night I asked a pal, with me to have a drain,
'Thanks Joe' said he, 'Lets see old pal I think I'll have Champagne.'
(Will ye, said I, oh, no,)

There's a fellow called Jack Bannister, he's a sort of chap is Jack
Who is always money borrowing and never pays ye back
Now last Thursday night he came to me, said he'd just returned to town
And was rather short of cash, could I lend him half a crown
(Well, I said, if I thought I should ever get it back again I would with
pleasure - but excuse me if I say...)


A friend of mine down in Pall Mall, the other night said 'Joe
I'll introduce you to a gal you really ought to know
She's a widow you should try and win, 'twould a good match be for you
She's pretty and got lots of tin, and only forty-two
(Fancy forty-two, old enough to be my grand-mother, and you know a
fellow can't marry his grandmother, lots of tin though, and pretty,
forty-two!).


I think you've had enough of Joe, and go I really must
I thank you for your kindness though, and only hope and trust
That the favour you have shown so long I always may retain:
Perhaps now if you like my song, you'll wish I'll sing again.
(But....)

A song remembered by traditional singer Walter Pardon in the 1970s. In the late 19th century it appeared in multiple editions of sheet music (not always credited to Arthur Lloyd) and in loads of broadsheets and songsters, reflecting the fact that it was an extremely popular song at that time.

The authoritative site on Arthur Lloyd gives the most commonly held story of the origins of his most successful song, in Lloyd’s own words:

On a very wet night I jumped into a bus at Holborn. The conductor was standing on his perch, talking over the top of the bus to the driver. Every now and then, in answer to some remark of the latter, I heard the conductor reply, Not me, not for Joe. This caught my fancy and before I left the bus I had the chorus and melody complete

arthurlloyd.co.uk

Whether this story is true or not, it seems to have been invented sometime after the song was introduced. A contemporary reviewer suggested it was modelled after the speaking style of a Dickens character who always spoke in the third person:

July 21, 1867;  The Sunday Times

At the time Lloyd didn’t seek to dispute this and used the quote in many subsequent adverts, for example:

July 28, 1867; The Era

Much more on this song, and Arthur Lloyd in general can be found at the website ArthurLloyd.co.uk

Sources: