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by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940)

Money, O!
 (Sung text for setting by M. Head)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
When I had money, money, O!
I knew no joy till I went poor;
For many a false man as a friend
Came knocking all day at my door.

Then felt I like a child that holds
A trumpet that he must not blow
Because a man is dead; I dared
Not speak to let this false world know.

Much have I thought of life, and seen
How poor men's hearts are ever light;
And how their wives do hum like bees
About their work from morn till night.

So, when I hear these poor ones laugh,
And see the rich ones coldly frown 
Poor men, think I, need not go up
So much as rich men should come down.

When I had money, money, O!
My many friends proved all untrue;
But now I have no money, O!
My friends are real, though very few.

Composition:

    Set to music by Michael (Dewar) Head (1900 - 1976), "Money, O!", published 1929, first performed 1928 [ voice and piano ], from Songs of the Countryside, no. 6

Text Authorship:

  • by William Henry Davies (1871 - 1940), "Money", appears in Nature Poems and Others, first published 1908

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Researcher for this page: Robert Marks

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 146

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