OH SAY CAN YOU SEE (WHAT I SEE)
(Sigmund Romberg / Dorothy Fields)

Deanna Durbin 1948



Transcribed from film Up In Central Park 1948
From the Broadway Musical & book Up In Central Park 1945
Director: William A. Seiter
Leads: Deanna Durbin/Dick Hames/Vincent Price
Was originally supposed to shoot in Technicolor but cancelled due lack of money.

It's a nice little spot
Over here that you've got
As I stand on the boat
With a lump in my throat
And I see the big city
I just feel so proud
I'm liable to bust.
So I'm thinkin' I'm likin' to stay
In the U and the S and the A.

Oh say can you see what I see
If this is America this is for me
Opportunity knocks 'til it breaks down the doors
And the fortune said take me I'm yours.

Then they hand you your prize, a graying bull
And throw in a good lookin' husband for free
It seems like a fairy land out of the sky
With ten dollar gold pieces baked in your pie
The taxes are low and the wages are high
What a wonderful place it must be
I certainly like what I see.

(bridge - dancing)

Oh say can you see what I see
If this is America, this is for me
It's a great land of plenty
And plenty is what
At the moment this girl has a guy.

As I look at New York, the small XXXX
I'll lock up my troubles and swallow the key
The folks look so rosy and healthy and gay
The Democrats tell you they all get that way
From eating Republicans three times a day
What a wonderful place it must be
I certainly like what I see.



(Transcribed by David Story - June 2013)