Sardine Song
Two verses of this song were written, and recorded, but unfortunately Chaplin edited the second verse out of the film. The performance is a perfect parody of the vocal style of George Bastow, one of the last “lions comiques” of the English music hall.
In Limelight Calvero performs this song twice: at the Middlesex theatre, the only venue that would employ him (under a different name) where he is booed off the stage, and at the gala performance given in his honour at the end of the film, where it is a huge success.
Sardine Song
Music and Lyrics by Charles Chaplin
When I was three, my nurse told me
About reincarnation.
And ever since, I’ve been convinced,
Thrilled with anticipation
That when I leave this earth
It makes my heart feel warm
To know that I’ll return
In some other form.
But I don’t want to be a tree
Sticking in the ground
I’d sooner be a flea.
I don’t want to be a flower
Waiting by the hour
Hoping for pollens to alight on me.
So when I cease to be
I want to go back I want to go back
I want to go back to the sea.
Oh for the life of a sardine
That is the life for me
Cavorting and spawning every morning
Under the deep blue sea.
To have no fear for storm or gale
Oh to chase the tail of a whale
Oh for the life of a sardine,
That is the life for me.
When I’m a fish, it is my wish
For lots of recreation.
To drink my fill up to the gill
With no intoxication.
I want fun in the sea
Not in this world of strife
With its morality.
Give me the animal life.
But I don’t want to be carrot
Sticking in the ground
I ‘d rather be a maggot
Life without a will
Would surely make me ill
To get a little action
I’d even be a pill
So when I cease to be
I want to go back I want to go back
I want to go back to the sea.
Oh for the life of a sardine
That is the life for me
Cavorting and spawning every morning
Under the deep blue sea.
To have no fear of a fisherman’s net
Oh what fun to be gay and all wet
Oh for the life under the sea,
That is the life for me.
Music and Lyrics by Charles Chaplin. Publisher: Bourne Co. All rights reserved.
