From the production “Tails Up”, 1919
Words by Ronald Jeans
Music by Philip Braham
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- I was waiting on the platform
Simply waiting for my train
And exactly how it happened
Well, I never could explain
It was lateish in the evening
Say a little after nine
And I saw him saunter past me
Then he turned, his eyes met mine
Refrain:
I don’t know what attracted my attention
I don’t know if I even stopped to think
I don’t know if I smiled without intention
And I don’t know if I really saw him wink
I don’t know if I may have been mistaken
But I thought I saw a flutter of his lid
I don’t know how I came to let my bag fall
But I do know he was very glad I did
- When the train came in the station
There was only room to stand
But I fought my way on board it
And he followed close at hand
And it maybe I felt giddy
Or perhaps the train did sway
But I knew that I was falling
So of course I fell his way
Refrain
I don’t know if he really engineered it
I don’t know if his strategy was planned
I don’t know how we got squeezed in the doorway
And I don’t know why I let him hold my hand
I don’t know whether he was going homeward
Or even if he lived upon that line
I don’t know if we got out at his station
But I know we never got as far as mine
- Then we climbed a moving staircase
Where it was I couldn’t guess
At the barrier I noticed
That he had to pay excess
At the entrance to the station
Was a taxi standing there
And he murmured, as he hailed it
“Can I drive you anywhere?”
Refrain:
I don’t know if he saw my hesitation
I don’t know what my mother would have said
So I said, “Just drop me near West Hampstead station”
And I don’t know how we reached the Ritz instead
I don’t know if he meant the things he whispered
I don’t know what was really in his mind
I don’t know what you think he did that evening
But I do know he did nothing of the kind