From The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music:

MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, LOUIS
Words, Andrew B. Sterling. Music, Kerry Mills. 1904.

1. When Louis came home to the flat,
He hung up his coat and his hat.
He gazed all around, but no wifey he found,
So he said, "Where can Flossie be at?"
A note on the table he spied.
He read it just once, then he cried.
It ran, "Louis dear, it's too slow for me here,
So I think I will go for a ride."

CHORUS: "Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.
Don't tell me the lights are shining any place but there.
We will dance the Hoochee Koochee. I will be your tootsie wootsie,
If you will meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair."

The dresses that hung in the hall
Were gone. She had taken them all.
She took all his rings and the rest of his things.
The picture he missed from the wall.
"What, moving?" the janitor said.
"Your rent is paid three months ahead."
"What good is the flat?" said poor Louis. "Read that."
And the janitor smiled as he read: CHORUS

EXTRA VERSES

3. Lew Woods was the name of a horse
That ran at the New Orleans course.
I played him one day for a dollar each way,
And I charged it to profit and loss.
He started to run in the wet.
The son-of-a-gun's running yet.
That crazy old skate, he made straight for the gate,
And I hollered, "Hey, Lew! Don't forget."

CHORUS: Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.
Take my tip and don't stop running until you are there.
You're a wonder, that's no liesky, if you don't fall down and diesky.
Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.

4. There came to the gay tenderloin
A jay who had money to burn.
The poor simple soul showed a girlie his roll,
And she said, "For some wine, dear, I yearn."
A bottle and bird right away
She touched him, then said, "I can't stay."
He sighed, "Tell me, sweet, where can you and I meet?"
And the orchestra started to play:

CHORUS: Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.
Don't tell me the lights are shining any place but there.
I'll be waiting there, my honey, to divorce you from your money.
Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.

5. The clerks in the bank said, "It's queer.
Did anyone see the cashier?
It's way after time, and we haven't a dime.
We can't open the safe till he's here."
The president shook his gray head.
"Send out for an expert," he said.
The door's opened wide. Not a cent was inside,
Just a card, that was all, and it read:

CHORUS: Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.
All the boys and all the girls are going to be there.
If they ask about the cashier, you can say he cuts a dash here.
Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.

6. In church sat a man near the door,
Asleep. He was starting to snore.
The minister rose and he said, "We will close
Singing, 'Meet on the Beautiful Shore.' "
The man in the back then awoke.
He caught the last words that he spoke.
He said, "Parson White, you can meet me all right,
But the Beautiful Shore is a joke."

CHORUS: Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.
Don't tell me the lights are shining any place but there.
I'll be waiting at the station for the whole darned congregation.
Meet me in Saint Louis, Louis. Meet me at the fair.

[Refers to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, a.k.a. the 1904 World's Fair, held in St. Louis. (Hey! This year's the centennial!) The song was used in, but not written for, the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis," starring Judy Garland.

[Every time I have heard this song, it was pronounced "Meet me in St. Louie, Louie," but there is nothing in the sheet music to indicate this pronunciation. No resident of St. Louis today pronounces the name of the city that way (although the city's founders surely pronounced it the French way). It is pronounced "Saint Lewis."

[The Virtual Gramophone has a recording by Robert Price, undated, probably 1904 or 1905.]