I'LL HAVE VANILLA
Eddie Cantor, Redmond Farrar, Arthur Terker; 1924.

VERSE 1. Hazel is a nut. She does nothing but
Eat ice cream when fellas take her out.
Never wants to go to dinner or a show.
If ... that she will holler, "Take me to an ice-cream parlor.

CHORUS 1: "I'll have vanilla, just plain vanilla.
Vanilla is the spice of life to me.
Raspberry's veryâ€"â€". So is strawberry.
And lemon is as whosis as can be.
You can shake that milkshake till the cow starts to scream,
But I'll wait for a plate of vanilla ice cream.
I'll have vanilla. Oh, you vanilla!
Vanilla, dear, I hear you calling me."

VERSE 2: On her wedding day, in the month of May,
Hazel walks to meet the blushing groom.
Then the preacher starts to join the loving hearts.
"Will you honor and obey?" to which the guests heard Hazel say,

CHORUS 2: "Oh, I'll have vanilla, just plain vanilla.
Vanilla's white and that means purity.
Some girls want liquor. That makes me snicker.
There's kick enough in plain ice cream for me.
You can talk of your walk 'neath the moonlight's soft gleam,
But a girl can't go wrong on vanilla ice cream.
I'll have vanilla. Oh, you vanilla!
Vanilla, dear, I hear you calling me.

[Instrumental "verse"]

CHORUS 3: "I'll have vanilla, just plain vanilla.
Vanilla simply fills me full of glee.
On ev'ry Monday, I want a sundae.
On Tuesday, it tastes just as good to me.
In the subway one day, someone gave me a seat.
I said, "Thank you, kind sir. This is really a treat,
But I'll have vanilla. Oh, you vanilla!
I'm sure you don't know what this means to me."

[You can hear Eddie Cantor sing this song in an archived radio program. Go to this page: Playlist for Old Codger with Courtney T. Edison - December 27, 2000, and click "Listen to this show (RealAudio)." The song begins 1 hour 13 minutes 0 seconds from the beginning of the program. (You can use RealPlayer to skip to that point.)]