From the musical “Allegro”, 1947
Words by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd
Music by Richard Rodgers
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Money isn’t everything
What can money buy?
An automobile, so you won’t get wet;
Champagne, so you won’t get dry.
Money isn’t everything
What have rich folks got?
A Florida home so you won’t get cold
A yacht so you won’t get hot;
An orchid or two, so you won’t feel blue
If you have to go out at night;
And maybe a jar of caviar,
So your appetite won’t be light.
Oil tycoon and cattle king, Radio troubadour
Belittle the fun that their fortunes bring
And tell you that they are sure
Money isn’t everything
Money isn’t everything,
Money isn’t everything
Unless you’re very poor!
Trio:
Can money make you honest?
Can it teach you right from wrong?
Can money keep you healthy?
Can it make your muscles strong?
Can money make your eyes red,
The way they get from sewing?
Can money make your back get sore,
The way it gets from mowing?
Can money make your hands get rough,
As washing dishes does?
Can money make you smell the way
That cooking fishes does?
It buys you gems and fancy clothes
And juicy steaks to carve,
But it cannot build your character
Or teach you how to starve
- Money isn’t everything
If you’re rich, you pay
Elizabeth Arden to do your face
The night you attend a play.
Feeling like the bloom of spring,
Down the aisle you float,
A Tiffany ring, and a Cartier string
Of pearls to adorn your throat.
Your Carnegie dress
Will be more or less
Of a handkerchief ’round your hip
Sewed on to you so that your slip won’t show
And whatever you show won’t slip.
To your creamy shoulders cling
Ermines white as snow.
Then on to Cafe’s where they sway and swing,
You go with your wealthy beau.
There you’ll hear a crooner sing:
“Money isn’t everything”
Money isn’t everything,
As long as you have dough
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: