IT'S A GREAT LIFE (IF YOU DON'T WEAKEN)
Words by Leo Robin, music by Richard A Whiting & Newell Chase. ©1930.
Originally sung by Maurice Chevalier in "Playboy of Paris" (1930)
Chorus as recorded by Jack Hylton & His Orchestra; verse as recorded by The Beau Hunks.

VERSE: What's the use? A man's a goose
To work himself into a lather.
Why hit the roof and fret about
Something he should forget about?
What's the use to raise the deuce
Whenever clouds begin to gather?
Kings as well as clowns
All have their ups and downs.

CHORUS: It's a great life if you don't weaken.
You're a great guy if you won't weaken.
If you don't lose heart, the hardest part
Is the first hundred years.
It's a great life if you stick to it,
Yes, a great world with a kick to it.
If you come up strong, it won't be long
Till the sunshine appears.
If you let him biff you,
Mister Gloom will knock you cold.
Get him; never let him
Use the well-known stranglehold.
It's a great life if you don't weaken.
You're a great guy if you won't weaken.
If you do, ah, well, what the hell!
It's still a great life.

[Also recorded by: Cotton and Morpheus, 1930-08-01; Maurice Chevalier, 1930-08-15; George Olsen and his Music, 1930-09-16; John Vincent's Californians, 1930-09-30; Lou Gold and his Orchestra, 1930-09-30; Six Jumping Jacks, 1930-10-01.]

[Note: A different song with the same title was written by Arthur Spaulding (words) and by Joseph M. Daly (music) ©1917. Faron Young recorded yet another song with the same title in 1955.]