CIGARETTES, CIGARS
From the Broadway Show "Ziegfeld Follies of 1931"
(Lyrics: Mack Gordon / Music: Harry Revel)

Ruth Etting (Broadway Production) - 1931



I was one of those hicks
That came here from the sticks
Trying to find the kind of fame
The name of Broadway stands for
I was one of those fools
Who dreamed of riches and jewels
Now I awake, find my mistake
I'll get a break, Broadway's a fake!

I work in a speak that's dim and dingy
Where standers are pretenders, cheap and stingy
All I smell is rotten scotch and ginger
Cigarettes, cigars!

Now I've learned what smoking coke and snow means
Among the guys who've never learned what "no" means
You ask me do I know what making dough means
Cigarettes, cigars!

To heaven I just send up
My lonely plea
Is this where I must end up
Oh, good Lord, answer me!

Every evening as the night life dies out
I walk home to sleep and weep my eyes out
Can't you hear a broken heart that cries out
Cigarettes, cigars! Cigarettes, cigars!

Say, have you ever seen Broadway when its glamour is gone
When the nightclubs are closing and the whole world is dozing and sleeping until the dawn? 
Why, all its glory and splendor and marvelous sights
They all fade out together as they turn out the lights
With street beggars mumbling, milk wagons rumbling, dream castles tumbling in the air
Oh, it's lonesome and weary, friendless and dreary, a pitiful sight of despair!

Every evening as the night life dies out
I walk home to sleep and weep my eyes out
Can't you hear a broken heart that cries out
Cigarettes, cigars! 
Cigarettes! Cigars! 
Cigarettes! Cigars!




(Contributed by  - December 2009)