I had a man.
he was a good man.
that is, you see, what i mean is
i thought he was a good man.
i had a friend.
she was a good friend.
i told my friend 'bout my man 'cause
i thought she was a good friend.
life was sweet.
didn't i have my man?
world complete...
then the fireworks began.
ain't got no man.
ain't got no friend.
i bet you can guess
just exactly what happened.
that was the end,
the end of my friend,
the end of my man,
and almost the end of me.
oh yes, oh yes, i had a man.
ooo-doo-doo-doo-doo,
that is, you see, what i mean is
i thought he was a good man.
i had a friend
i said, i had a friend
umm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm
i told my friend 'bout my man
'cause i thought she was a good friend.
life was sweet.
didn't i have my man, my man
world complete...
then the fireworks began.
ain't got no man.
ain't got no friend.
i bet you can guess
just exactly what happened.
that was the end,
the end of my friend,
the end of my man,
and darned near the end of me.
danny kaye's wife, sylvia fine, adapted it to a jive version that was done
in a "mail call" program in 1944 by danny and dinah:
“tess's torch song - jive”
dinah: love, it can get you in the strangest messes.
i know your story well, it's just like torch of tess's:
you had a gal...
danny: i swear me momma, oh what a gal was mary.
dinah: she was your best gal...
danny: oh beat me daddy, what a pal was mary.
dinah: that is, you see, what i mean is
you thought she was your best gal.
danny: shoot the bare facts to me, fairfax.
i had a friend...
dinah: oh, joe, joe, joe the rock of gi-gibraltar.
danny: he was my best friend...
dinah: oh, so-so-so so sweet as chocolate malter.
danny: i told my friend 'bout my gal
'cause i thought he was my best friend!
dinah: shoot the bromo to
