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No. 15 - Song - Eliza - "Grumbles."

MIDI File

Eliza: I'm a servant and I
must confess that I try
To do all in my pow'r to succeed,
I do all that I should,
But it isn't no good,
I suppose that it's not in the breed!
I'm pretty nigh dead
By the time I'm in bed,
And I'm up when I've scarcely got in it;
And before I'm half up
They shout out for their cup
Of hot tea, so I shouts "Half a minute!"
Oh, they're at me for this, and they're at me for that,
And I'm sure I'm obliging and humble.
Whatever I argue they don't understand.
I told them the looking-glass broke in my hand,
If they will go and buy that cheap stuff in the Strand,
Well, why do they want to grumble?
   
  Oh, I've not got to look,
by the way she says "cook,"
I can tell something's wrong with her liver,
And when once she begins
Raking up all your sins,
Oh, she goes on like Tennyson's river!
She complains of the dust
And she says that I must
Brush the bookcase below and behind it;
So I says "If it please
yer to crawl on your knees
To find dust, it's your fault if you find it."
Oh, she's at me for this, and she's at me for that,
And I'm sure I'm obliging and humble.
She'll ask me if any black-beetles I've seen,
Why Alfred is out, Where's the sewing machine?
And I never ask her where her husband has been,
So why does she want to grumble?
   
  Now when you're in town
The missus comes down
To the kitchen, you know, on the sly;
And she's all over nice,
And she'll talk about rice
"And we'll want some more salt, by the by."
But I know what it means--
We've had similar scenes--
She just wants to see who's about;
But as I've got the key
Of the boot-hole, you see,
It's a hard job for her to find out!
Oh, she's at me for this, and she's at me for that,
And I'm sure I'm obliging and humble.
"I don't like strange men," says the missus, says she,
So I says to her (knowing she's shy, don't you see)
"I don't want you to like him, he's come to see me,"
So why does she want to grumble?

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Page modified 15 November 2016