One Meat Ball (Am) I first heard it by The Andrews Sisters (1944) (side 2 of “Rum & Coca Cola”???); based on Harvard professor George Martin Lane’s earlier “Jonah and the Ballad of the Lone Fish Ball” which can be found post Civil War (a Fish Ball was a staple of the northeast…Bpstonish). Revised & recorded by Josh White in1944

   Am                        E7
A little man walked up and down
                            Am
To find an eating place in town
                              Dm
He read the menu through and through,
    E7
To see what fifteen cents could do.

Am                F E7   Am                F E7
One meatball,         one meat ball,
Am                            E7          Am
He could afford but one meat ball.

He told the waiter near at hand, the simple dinner he had planned,
The guests were startled, one and all
To hear that waiter loudly call,   “One meatball one meatball.
Hey, this here gent wants one meatball."

The little man felt ill at ease, said "Some bread, sir, if you please."
The waiter hollered down the hall,
"You gets no bread with one meatball,   One meatball…
You gets no bread with one meatball."

The little man felt very bad, one meatball was all he had,
And in his dreams he hears that call,
"You gets no bread with one meatball. One meatball…
You gets no bread with one meatball."