The Minstrel Song
Alan Bell

When I was a young lad and eager for the footlights and fortune and fame
I met an old trouper his name it was Sam and he taught me the rules of the game
He showed me the ways of the theatre, how always the show must go on
I learned how to enter, to stand, take a bow whenever I sang his song

Goodbye and adieu and farewell, I've loved you but now I must leave you
With a smile and a song as we part, the show's over it's time to be gone
But perhaps I will see you next year when I'll have some more tales to amuse you
And many more tunes you will hear, I'm a minstrel a peddler of songs

I've worked all the small country theatres and toured round the old music halls
I've died in the first house on a wet Monday night, but lived to take six curtain calls
I've starved like a beggar on Broadway, and been broke down the Champs Elesey
But when the show's over and the curtain came down I could always smile and say

I've courted the girls in the chorus, and lingered in many a late bar
I've gazed up in awe at my name in bright lights to think I had become a star
I once loved a beauty called Nancy whose loving was so sweet and strong
But she wanted a house and some kids and a dog so sadly I sang my song

So I've spent all my life entertaining and lived by the stage door routine
I've had many chances and missed quite a few I'm not yearning for what might have been
Now many long years lie behind me and I hope there are still some to come
When I stand on the stage with the house lights turned down as the audience sing my song


Please excuse my spelling of the French street "Champs Elesey. My love of France and all things French including their spelling is renound!!!>
Cheers Bill