Any Old Place I Can Hang My Hat

A comic song about wanderlust, 1901.
words by William Jerome
music by Jean Schwartz

This song quotes Home Sweet Home (1823). It was performed on the comic stage by The Happy Tramp. He seems to prefer his traveling lifestyle. Today we call it being ‘homeless.’


The sheet music:


Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:


Lyrics

  1. I’ve travelled ’round the world a bit
    I’ve been from coast to coast
    Had every kind of food to eat
    From eggs to quail on toast
    There’s not a gate in any state
    That hasn’t got my mark
    One night I sleep in some hotel
    Next night on a bench in the park

Chorus
I ain’t got no regular place that I can call my home
I ain’t got no permanent address
As through this world I roam
Portland Maine is just the same as sunny Tennessee
Any old place I can hang my hat
Is home sweet home to me

  1. I’ve never had a loving wife
    To share my misery
    And when I die I’m very sure
    There’ll be no tears for me
    In sun or rain I feel the same
    On land or on the sea
    As through this little world I roam
    All towns look alike to me

Sung here by Fred Feild: