In Three-Quarter Time
George Gershwin * Track #2 On Pardon My English
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In Three-Quarter Time by George Gershwin
Performed by
George GershwinAbout
In keeping with the show’s setting in Germany, this song pays tribute to the waltz form, which the German-speaking world had popularized throughout Europe starting in the 1810s. Though the fad had largely died out by the time the show premiered, waltzes were still strongly identified with Germany.
In Three-Quarter Time Lyrics
(Verse)
When Frederick the Great was at Potsdam
The French introduced the gavotte
But Fred warned his henchmen
'Twas all right for Frenchmen
But Germans? Oh, certainly not!
"With waltzes we've built up the empire
For waltzes," said Freddy, "I fight!"
So poet and peasant
From then to the present
Have waltzed from the morning till night
When a Musiker doesn't bring Strauss mit ihm
He is no Musiker. 'Raus mit 'im!
(Chorus 1)
We laugh and we sing oom-pah-pah
And we dance in three-quarter time
When having our fling oom-pah-pah
We romance in three-quarter time
It makes us sentimental
It makes the night sublime
Our dogs, they have rabies
Our women have babies
In three-quarter time
So, me for three-four time
(Chorus 2)
We laugh and we sing oom-pah-pah
And we dance in three-quarter time
When having our fling oom-pah-pah
We romance in three-quarter time
Way back in German history
When Man began to climb
I'm certain that Adam
Made love to his madam
In three-quarter time
So, me for three-four time
(Chorus 3)
We laugh and we sing oom-pah-pah
And we dance in three-quarter time
When having our fling oom-pah-pah
We romance in three-quarter time
From Düsseldorf to Frankfurt
From Lentz to Schnableheim
The petticoat gender
Will always surrender
To three-quarter time
So, me for three-four
Pooh for two-four
Me for three-four time
In Three-Quarter Time Q&A
Who wrote In Three-Quarter Time's ?
In Three-Quarter Time was written by George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin.