The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #121150   Message #4004790
Posted By: GUEST,Starship
16-Aug-19 - 07:41 PM
Thread Name: Lost Song Fragments Medleyed
Subject: RE: Lost Song Fragments Medleyed
Regarding Roll a Silver Dollar: the following (entire) is from https://john-s-allen.com/humor/silverdollar.htm


Here are the lyrics of the song as transcribed by Ralph Butts from the 1908 Billy Murray recording. No fish is mentioned -- yet -- in this version. The important wording is highlighted in red:

A Man Without A Woman (Silver Dollar)
- Billy Murray
Written by Alfred Williams, ca. 1907

A man without a woman is like a ship without a sail,
Is like a boat without a rudder, a kite without a tail.
A man without a woman is like a wreck upon the sand,
And if there's one thing worse, in this universe,
It's a woman, I said, a woman, it's a woman without a man!

    Now you can roll a silver dollar 'cross the bar-room floor,
    And it'll roll, 'cause it's round.
    A woman never knows what a good man she's got,
    Until she puts him down!

    So listen, my honey, listen to me,
    I want you to understand,
    Just like a silver dollar goes from hand to hand,
    A woman goes from man to man.
       (Without a doubt).
    A woman goes from man to man.