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by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864)

Don't bet your money on de Shanghai
Language: English 
De Shanghai chicken when you put him in de pit,
He'll eat a loaf of bread up, but he can't fight a bit
De Shanghai fiddle is a funny little thing
And ebry time you tune him up he goes ching! ching!
CHORUS:
 Oh! de Shanghai!
 Don't bet your money on de Shanghai!
 Take de little chicken in de middle ob de ring
 But don't bet your money on de Shanghai.

I go to de fair for to see de funny fowls
De double headed pigion and de one eyed owls
De old lame goose wid no web between his toes
He kills himself a laughing when de Shanghai crows.
(CHORUS)

De Shanghai's tall but his appetite is small
He'll only swallow ebry thing that he can overhaul
Four bags of wheat just as certain as your born
A bushel of potatoes and a tub full of corn.
(CHORUS)

Text Authorship:

  • by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Stephen Collins Foster (1826 - 1864), "Don't bet your money on de Shanghai", 1861. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this page: T. P. (Peter) Perrin

This text was added to the website: 2011-11-10
Line count: 19
Word count: 153

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