What a friend! What a sport!
| AKA | |
| First Published | 1907 |
| Writer/composer | Charles Collins | Roud | RN40044 |
| Music Hall Performers | Tom Leamore |
| Folk performances | Collected from the singing of: Cotter, Harry ; Australia : New South Wales ; no date |
Jolly good pals are a trouble to find
I've got a pal but he's really too kind
When he comes round to our house it is grand
He feeds us up on the fat of the land
When he buys a chicken for dinner you see
I don't have any it's too rich for me
After the wife lets me lick out the dish
He gives me the wishbone and tells me to wish
What a friend! What a sport!
What a jolly good pal to me
I go to work at five each morn
He gives the wife cups of tea when I'm gone
But if I ever live to have plenty of LSD
I won't run away
I'll pay him someday
For all that he's done for me
I told the wife I would take her away
Down to Southend for a short holiday
But when the time came for us to depart
It played the death March on my old woman's heart
When it was laid up and so I couldn't go
My pal came round to our house and said Joe
I'm going down to Southend by the sea
You can't take the wife shall I take her with me
What a friend! What a sport!
What a jolly good pal to me
He took my wife away you know
Said I'll look after her, don't worry Joe
But if I ever live to have plenty of LSD
I won't run away
I'll pay him someday
For all that he's done for me
Written by Charles Collins, a hit for Tom Leamore in 1907.
A contempoary recording of the song is available for purchase from Windyridge CD or Download – Jack Charman: The Matrimonial Handicap
The song has been collected by Harry Cotter, a traditional singer from New South Wales|:
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%3A40044
- Kilgarrif Sing Us
- Lyrics: transcribed by John Baxter from Jack Charman recording
- Sheet Music: not available to me at this time