A 1914 popular song.
Words by Alfred Bryan.
Music by Fred Fischer.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Oh, oh, many years ago
Lived the wife of happy Rip Van Winkle
One day, she drove poor Rip away
As the little stars began to twinkle
All that he had, he had under his hat
And she was glad to see him go
So, over the hills he went
Left her without a cent
One thing I’m anxious to know
Chorus
Who paid the rent for Missus Rip Van Winkle
When Rip Van Winkle went away?
And while he slept for twenty years
Who was it kissed away her tears?
She had no friends in the place, had no one to embrace
But the landlord always saw her with a smile on her face
Who paid the rent for Missus Rip Van Winkle
When Rip Van Winkle went away?
- Oh, oh, many years ago
Napoleon cross’d the Alps one day in winter
Oh, oh, history tells us so
Julius Caesar stepped upon a splinter
Miss Cleopatra she knew how to love
She put a Mark on Anthony
So, I’ve search’d in history
To clear the mystery
One thing that’s worrying me
Sung here by Vancha March: