From the 1941 film “The Big Store”
Words by Sid Kuller and Ray Golden
Music by Hal Bourn
The sheet music:
Lyrics
Schubert wrote a symphony, too bad he didn’t finish it
Gershwin took a chord in `G’ and proceeded to diminish it
I sought a variation on a theme that I thought pretty
And I found my inspiration on the east side of the city
Chorus:
The Cohens and the Kellys
The Campbells and Vermicellis
All form a part of my Tenement Symphony
The Cohen’s pianola
The Kellys and their victrola
All warm the heart of my Tenement Symphony
The Campbells come tumb’lin’ down the stairs
Doodle-de-ah, doodle-de-ah, doodle-de-ah
Oh Marie! Oh Marie!
You’ll be late for your date with Izzy
And from this confusion
I dreamed of a grand illusion
It’s my Tenement Symphony in four flats
Interlude:
The kid on the first floor practicing the minuet
The kid on the second floor
Yelling for the dinner that he didn’t get
The guy on the third floor wakened from his slumber
By the guy on the fourth floor practicing the Rhumba
Chorus:
The sounds of the ghetto inspired the Allegretto
You’ll find them in my Tenement Symphony
The cry of a vendor met a lullaby sweet and tender
I combined them in my Tenement Symphony
The yelling of children will greet your ear
Doodle-de-ah, doodle-de-ah, doodle-de-ah
Holly Gee! Holly Gee!, gotta stop, there’s a cop
“Hey, chickie”
And from this confusion I dreamed of a grand illusion
It’s my Tenement Symphony in four flats