from the 1908 musical “Miss Innocence”
words by Harry Williams
music by Egbert Van Alstyne
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- I’m very sad, I feel so bad
And I’m so innocent, you know
But my eyes get me in trouble
Every single place I go
In a cafe they often say
I flirt with Jack, or Joe, or Fred
So I went to see an occultist today, and said
Chorus:
“I wonder what’s the matter with my eyes?
I wish I knew
I wonder if it’s their enormous size?
Oh, tell me do
Or can it be a nervous blink
That makes the boys all think I wink
I wonder what’s the matter with my eyes?”
- I’m fond of art, I have a heart
For things artistic, you’ll agree
But our good kind Mister Comstock
Doesn’t quite agree with me
Among the trees that fan the breeze
I often see a naked limb
And though I’m never shocked
They say, a limb shocks him
Chorus:
“I wonder what’s the matter with my eyes?
I wish I knew
I wonder if it’s their enormous size?
Oh, tell me do
If postal cards from “Gay Paree”
Look bad to him and good to me
I wonder what’s the matter with my eyes?”
Sung here by Vancha March: