A popular song from 1902.
Words by William Jerome.
Music by Jean Schwartz.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- I went to see a Shakespeare show
In the op’ra house two weeks ago
And since that night I never felt the same
‘Twas a dreamy, dopey, sad affair
Of a gent’ with disappointed hair
The programme stated Hamlet was his name
He seemed to be asleep and looking for a cot
When he said to be or not to be
I felt like saying not
Chorus
Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
I tried to laugh a little
But there wasn’t any chance
He didn’t sing a song or even do a funny dance
Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
Why he wouldn’t give Omega oil a pain
He was icy and frapped
As a Boston college maid
For Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
- He had the greatest chance you see
To introduce a specialty
I felt like yelling “Ham” it’s up to you
For instance, in the graveyard scene
To keep poor Yorick’s mem’ry green
A verse of Mister Dooley oo-ley oo
He picked up Yorrick’s skull
And said I well knew thee
Just then the band began to play I’m tired
Chorus
Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
He looked just like a fellow
Who had trouble with his wife
Or a Brooklyn man that pushed
A baby carriage all his life
Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
No wonder poor Ophelia went insane
Perhaps ’twas salary
And he didn’t get his pay
For Hamlet was a melancholy Dane
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: