I-Gave-Her-That.jpg

I-Gave-Her-That.jpg

There’s good ol' Al Jolson, with a friendly smile on his face. How nice! What’s the title of this song?

“I Gave Her That.”

It’s probably a song about some presents from a loving husband to his wife or girlfriend, right?

Oh, how wrong you are! It’s about a man giving things to his wife, alright, but one of those things is a black eye!

Yes, this song from the good ol' days of 1919 celebrates giving a woman a black eye.

The Sheet Music Collection is full of interesting titles, lyrics, art work, etc.  Check it out!

And listen to "I Gave Her That" by Al Jolson on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlZkES2Kkgs

The complete lyrics follow:

Folks I want to ask you something
Have you seen my sweet?
She‘s the girl you stop and stare at
Walking down the street

There is really no use asking if you’ve seen this Miss
I am sure you’ve seen her so
Let me ask you this

Did you see that pretty dress?
Say, I gave her that
And that look of happiness
Say, I gave her that

You should see her flat
And her great big picture hat
You’d declare
It’s a bear

I gave her that

Did you see her motor car?
Say, I gave her that

I love her so much I hardly know where I’m at
Oh she’s a mighty pretty sight
And her eyes are black as night

But the left is blacker than the right
And I gave her that

When I’m walking with my sweetie
Up and down Broadway
You should see the fellow staring
Hear the things they say

They all claim I could never win this nifty miss
When they ask if she is mine
I just tell them this

Did you see that pretty dress?
Say, I gave her that
And that look of happiness?
Say, I gave her that

You should see her flat
And her great picture hat
You’d declare
It’s a bear

I gave her that

Did you see her solitaire?
I gave her that

When she got that ring she more than smiled
She went wild

But did you see her yesterday?
With that baby on Broadway?

Wasn’t that some baby
Say, That’s her sister’s child.

Post by Peggy Alexander, Curator of Performing Arts Special Collections