Title song from the 1916 operetta “Florabella”.
Words by Earl Carroll.
Music by Milton E. Schwarzwald.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. I can’t believe each boy I meet
Desires to kneel right at my feet
But still there’s something gone amiss
When every boy will cry like this
“O Florabella”, all the roses of the south
Just seem to linger near your mouth
Won’t you invent a cure to stop my temperature
From thumpin’, bumping’, jumpin’ when you’re near
Chorus:
Florabelle, take me along with you
Florabelle, you know I’m strong for you
Florabelle, why I’d go wrong for you
When you make those wandering eyes
When I start to reach your lips so sweet
Then my heart, it starts to skip a beat
All my life I would pay just to rent for a day
Any part of your heart, Florabelle
2. They order dinner, then they’re hurt
Unless they’ve kisses for dessert
They’ll eat up all that’s in the place
And then they try to eat my face
“O Florabella”, when I reach my home at night
There’s several dozen still in sight
And when at last I’ve said, “Boys I must to to sleep”
I’d really compromising when they shout