From the 1900 comic opera “Foxy Quiller”.
Words by Harry B. Smith.
Music by Reginald de Koven.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- The Grecian Alexander
Was an eminent commander
And Cicero was famous as a speaker
While others of antiquity
Were noted for iniquity
But all, when they’re compared to me grow weaker
Old Christopher Columbus
As a sailor raised a rumpus
And Nelson as a fighter was a thriller
But heroes of the nation
Get a shopworn reputation
When brought into comparison with Quiller
Chorus
For Quiller has the brain and Quiller has the arm
A frown that is a terror, but a smile that has a charm
To turn the coyest damsel to a cooer and a biller
Don Juan was an amateur compared to Foxy Quiller
For Quiller has the brain and Quiller has the arm
A frown that is a terror, but a smile that has a charm
To turn the coyest damsel to a cooer and a biller
Don Juan was an amateur compared to Foxy Quiller
- You talk about your Plato
And your Socrates and Cato
But I must say without intending rudeness
Their talk was merely driveling
Their wisdom only frivoling
Compared to my extraordinary shrewdness
Napoleon and Nero, were a cipher and a zero
And Bacon wasn’t wiser than a miller
All other names diminish
To a microscopic finish
When brought into proximity with Quiller
Chorus
For Quiller has the brain and Quiller has the arm
A frown that is a terror, but a smile that has a charm
To turn the coyest damsel to a cooer and a biller
Don Juan was an amateur compared to Foxy Quiller
For Quiller has the brain and Quiller has the arm
A frown that is a terror, but a smile that has a charm
The rest of the detectives
When they gaze on him grow iller
A lot of children they, not men
They’re just a Kindergarten
When compared to Foxy Quiller, Foxy Quiller
Sung here by Vancha March: