King For A Day

A popular song from 1928
Words by Lewis and Young
Music by Ted Fiorito


The sheet music:


Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:


Lyrics

  1. Wanderers! a land full of wanderers
    A handful of wanderers
    That’s all we are
    Searching for a little lane of gold
    Love means more than gold
    We’re growing old

Chorus
Life is but a dream
Make that dream supreme
You’re King for a day
Don’t forget that castles crumble
Fortunes tumble
Love and love alone is humble
Gather flowers while you may
Be that happy one
Smile up at the sun
You’re King for a day
Gold will change you like Mephisto
Remember this though
Love makes you a Monte Cristo
King for a day

Recitative
Life is just a ringlet of smoke
A tear and a joke
And you can’t hide your sins
‘Neath a velvety cloak
What are we all but the potter’s clay
Molded to crumble and fade away
Some of us lose, some of us win
But aren’t we equals the skin?
Years are like days
So remember one thing
The heart that can sing is greater
And richer than Monarch or King
A light of a candle that’s all we are
We dim and we fade like a vanishing star
When the roadway of life
Becomes ragged and rough
We realize then that we’re only a
Puff-puff-puff

  1. Happiness, we all try for happiness
    We all cry for happiness on bended knee
    Some of us keep reaching for a star
    Some of us don’t know what fools we are

Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein.
Guitar by Steve Rubenstein: