A little man walked up and down
He found an eating place in town
He read the menu through and through
To see what fifteen cents could do
One meat ball, one meat ball,
He could afford but one meat ball.
He told the waiter near at hand
The simple dinner he had planned
The guests were startled, one and all
To hear that waiter loudly call
"One meat ball, one meat ball?
Hey, this here gent wants one meat ball!"
The little man felt ill at ease
Said, "Some bread, sir, if you please."
The waiter hollered down the hall,
"You gets no bread with one meat ball!
"One meat ball, one meat ball,
Well, you gets no bread with one meat ball!"
The little man felt very bad
One meat ball was all he had
And in his dreams he hears that call
"You gets no bread with one meat ball!
"One meat ball, one meat ball
Well, you gets no bread with one meat ball!"
He found an eating place in town
He read the menu through and through
To see what fifteen cents could do
One meat ball, one meat ball,
He could afford but one meat ball.
He told the waiter near at hand
The simple dinner he had planned
The guests were startled, one and all
To hear that waiter loudly call
"One meat ball, one meat ball?
Hey, this here gent wants one meat ball!"
The little man felt ill at ease
Said, "Some bread, sir, if you please."
The waiter hollered down the hall,
"You gets no bread with one meat ball!
"One meat ball, one meat ball,
Well, you gets no bread with one meat ball!"
The little man felt very bad
One meat ball was all he had
And in his dreams he hears that call
"You gets no bread with one meat ball!
"One meat ball, one meat ball
Well, you gets no bread with one meat ball!"
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2019/3/16 - 21:32
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Scritta da Hy Zaret e Lou Singer
Hy Zaret, pseudonimo di Hyman Harry Zaritsky (1907-2007) è stato un paroliere statunitense. Il suo successo più grande è l'indimenticabile "Unchained Melody" (1955, con musica di Alex North). E' stato anche l'autore della versione inglese della Complainte du partisan, portata a notorietà da Leonard Cohen
In realtà Zaret e Singer ripresero una canzone ottocentesca intitolata "The Lone Fish Ball", scritta nel 1855 da tal George Martin Lane, sulla melodia di una canzone popolare inglese.
"One Meat Ball" divenne famosissima, come parafrasi della miseria portato della guerra e della crisi economica, nella versione "bianca" delle Andrews Sisters e in quella "nera" di Josh White. Poi nel tempo vi si cimentarono decine di artisti famosi.
La versione di Josh White è contenuta innanzitutto in un disco del 1945 intitolato "Songs By Josh White", con le note introduttive di Langston Hughes