The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #59826   Message #1434937
Posted By: Jim Dixon
14-Mar-05 - 09:44 PM
Thread Name: ADD: Pepino the Italian Mouse (from Lou Monte)
Subject: Lyr Add: WHAT DID WASHINGTON SAY (WHEN HE...)
There are sound files of this song and several others on this Lou Monte fan page, from which I transcribed this:

WHAT DID WASHINGTON SAY (WHEN HE CROSSED THE DELAWARE)
(Albanese/Merrell/Saltzberg)
As sung by Lou Monte on his album "Golden Hits."

1. "Give me liberty or give me death"—these words will never die.
"We have just begun to fight" is a famous battle cry;
But what I really want to know ain't written anywhere.
Hey, what did Washington say when he crossed the Delaware?
"...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, wish you were here tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, no pasta fazool-a tonight.

2. "Martha baked these pizza pies and now they're cold as ice.
We'll sell them to the Indians at only half the price.
Please row a little faster, boys. I got no time to kill.
Tonight I'm posing for my picture on the dollar bill.
...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, don't wait up for me tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, no Dardanella tonight."

3. George stood up and told his men, "Keep going! Please don't stop.
These boats are only rented and we've got till six o'clock.
It's against the rules. We can't go rowing after dark.
We've got to get these rowboats back to good old Central Park.
...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, I'm not coming home tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, there'll be no twisting tonight."

4. On the day of glory, that's what Georgie told his crew.
Some may doubt the story, but to those of you who do,
Just ask Giusepp' the barber while he trims and cuts your hair.
He'll tell you just what Georgie said when he crossed the Delaware:
"...
...
Oh, Martha, Martha, no pasta fazool tonight.
Oh, Martha, Martha, I'm not coming home tonight."

SPOKEN: Hey George, you wanna buy a bridge?

[The ellipses stand for two lines in Italian that seem to be the same in every verse. I can't transcribe them, but there are some suggestions about what the Italian words might be in a discussion thread at One-Hit Wonder Central.

Somewhere I found a comment that this song uses the tune of an "Italian wedding song" but it didn't name the song.

p.s. I ran across this web site which you might enjoy: an Internet radio station called Songs of Italy.