The Digital Tradition identifies this song as FATAL GLASS OF BEER but it is almost identical to the song from Helen Ramsay, printed in Shay's More Pious Friends and Drunken Companions

Here is the text from More Pious Friends, page 100. Differences from the DT are in italics.

BALLAD OF A YOUNG MAN
(as sung by Helen Ramsey)

There was a young man, and he came to New York
To find himself a lucrative position befitting his talents.

And he hunted all the Employment Agencies, but was nearly starved to death,
When at last he got a job in a stone quarry with all the other College graduates.

And after Work was done, they lured him into a Saloon,
And tempted him to drink a glass of Beer.

But he'd promised his dear old Mother that he never would Imbibe
That he'd never touch his Lips to a glass containing Liquor.

They laughed at him and Jeered, and they called him a cow-yard
Till at last he clutched and drained the glass of Beer.

When he saw what he had Did, he dashed his glass upon the floor,
And Staggered out the door with Delirium Tremens.

And the first person that he met was a Salvation Army Lass,
And with one kick he broke her Tambourine.

When she saw what he had Did, she placed a Mark upon his Brow
With a kick that she had learned before she was Sav-ed.

And the Moral of this tale is to Shun that Fatal glass,
And don't go around kicking other peoples' Tambourines.

@drink @death
filename[ GLASBEER
RG

Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:

Fatal Glass of Beer, The

DESCRIPTION: "There was a young man and he came to New York To find himself a lucrative position befitting his talents." He finds a job, but breaks his promise to his mother to abstain from drink. He breaks a Salvation Army tambourine and dies when its owner kicks him
AUTHOR: Charlie Case (source: Spaeth)
EARLIEST DATE: 1928 (Shay-BarroomBallads/PiousFriendsDrunkenCompanions)
KEYWORDS: humorous work music death drink
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Spaeth-ReadEmAndWeep, pp. 223-224 "The Charlie Case Songs" (1 text plus a parody, 1 tune)
Shay-BarroomBallads/PiousFriendsDrunkenCompanions, pp. 174-175, "Ballad of a Young Man" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, GLASBEER
Roud #9546
NOTES [92 words]: What I presume is the original of this, in Spaeth, has a strange "tune" in which large portions are chanted to a single note. Shay's text still has recitation, but in different places, and it eliminates an accidental from the tune. It is also much more elaborate -- it looks like some other material (e.g. a slam on college graduates) has floated in. It's an amazing amount of folk processing for a piece that apparently was only once collected in the field.
The title I used here is from a short movie made by W. C. Fields in 1933 based on this plot. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.2
File: SBar174

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