a 1916 spelling song
words by Bert Hanlon
music by Benny Ryan and Harry Tierney
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. When I was seven years of age
I used to go to school
And when it came to spelling
I was awful as a rule
I couldn’t spell a single word
When “S’s” were concerned
I’ve tried to overcome my lisp
And success came in return
Now that word Mississippi
Was awful hard to spell
But now I will convince you
That I can spell it well
Chorus
M-I-S S-I-S S-I-P-P-I
That used to be so hard to spell
It used to make me cry
But since I’ve studied spelling
It’s just like pumpkin pie
M-I-S S-I-S S-I-P-P-I
2. A lot of words would puzzle me
Bananas was no cinch
Sasaparilla that was hard though
I’d spell it in a pinch
But words like Cincinnati
Psychological and such
Gee when it came to spelling those
I surely was in Dutch
I can’t spell Cinderella
And sausages that’s tough
But I can spell Mississippi
And believe me that’s enough
Sung here by Fred Feild:
Audio mp3:
Audio wav: