(My Little Cup of Tea)
From “A Chinese Honeymoon”, 1902
Words by Paul West
Music by John W. Bratton
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
1. In a little laundry down in Chinatown
There’s a little Chinaman with pigtail hanging down
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
Toils from early morning far into the night
All the linen polishing until it’s clean and bright
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
Folks who pass the laundry often stop to ask
Why a Chinaman should sing gaily at his task
Why he’s never lonely mid the foreign throng
Ah if they could only know the burden of his song
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
Chorus:
My little Hong Kong baby
Over the China sea
When will you join me, maybe
When will you come to me
When will our wedding day be
My little Fooey See
My little Hong Kong baby
My little cup of tea
2. In a little teashop far in China’s land
Sits a little China girl, with teacup in her hand
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
As the dainty peach blooms shower from above
Stands a gay young mandarin who’s breathing words of love
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
How her features brighten, how her soft eyes shine
As she hears his burning words “Fovey See be mine”
But a mystic murmur falls upon her ear
As a song from o’er the sea the maiden seems to hear
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
3. In a little laundry down in Chinatown
Kneels a little Chinaman whose tears are streaming down
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
In his had a letter from across the sea
He has read with burning eyes of faithless Fovey See
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling
Folks who pass the laundry wonder on their way
Why he does not sing the song he sang yesterday
See him, sad and lonely, all the dark day long
Hopeless little Chinaman no longer sings this song
Ching-a-ling ling-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling