| Lyrics: | SWEENEY TODD THE BARBER
(A) Dm A Dm / Bb Am Dm / Dm A Dm / Dm Am Dm /
F - / Gm /
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Dm A Dm / Dm A Dm Am / Dm A / Dm A / Dm - / Dm A Dm
In Fleet
Street, that's in London Town
When King Charlie wore the crown,
There lived a man of great
renown
'Twas Sweeney Todd the Barber.
One shave from him and you'd want no
more,
You'd feel his razor sharp,
Then tumble, wallop!, through the floor
And wake up
playing a harp, and singing . . .
Sweeney Todd the Barber, by God he were better than the
play,
Sweeney Todd the Barber, "I'll polish 'em off" he used to say.
His clients through
the floor would slope
But he had no fear of the hangman's rope
"Dead men can't talk with
their mouths full of soap,"
Said Sweeney Todd the Barber.
Now underneath the shop,
it's true
Where the bodies tumble through,
There lived a little widow, who
Loved
Sweeney Todd the Barber.
She made her living by selling pies,
Her meat pies were a
treat,
Chock full of meat and such a size
For she was getting the meat from
mister
Sweeney Todd the Barber, by God he were better than the play,
Sweeney Todd
the Barber, "I'll polish 'em off" he used to say.
For many a poor orphan lad
The first
square meal he ever had
Was a hot meat pie made out of his dad
From Sweeney Todd the
Barber
(spoken)
It was Saturday night in Old Sweeney Todd's shop
And the
customers sat in a row.
While behind a screen Sweeney shaved some poor mug
And his
sweetheart made pies down below.
Though none were aware, it were "cut prices"
there,
They were rolling up in twos and threes,
And his foot got quite sore pressing knob
on the floor
And his voice went from saying "Next please!"
Well in came a swell and
he asked Sweeney Todd
"Just a shave and a perfumed shampoo,
For I've just got engaged."
Sweeney just pressed the knob and
said,
"There, now it's all fallen
through."
Well a bookmaker sat with his mouthful of soap, said,
"They're all backing
favourites today,
So I 'spect I'll go down," Sweeney said, "Yes you will,"
And he did, he
went down straight away.
But what rotten luck, the darn trap went and stuck
For the
hinge he'd forgotten to grease,
And a customer started calling out "Police!"
Just as
Sweeney was shouting, "Next please!"
Yes, he ran to the door and he shouted out
"Police!"
He shouted out "Police!", nine times or ten
But no policeman came, it wasn't no
wonder
Police weren't invented by then.
But up came the bold Bow Street Runners
(Hurrah!)
And he had to let many a pie burn
And they dragged him to Quad, and next day
Sweeney Todd
Was condemned to be switched off at Tyburn.
And there on the gibbet he
hangs in his chains
And they do say a little black crow
Made a sweet little nest in old
Sweeney Todd's whiskers
And he sang as he swang to and fro . .
.
(sung)
Sweeney Todd the Barber, by God he were better than the
play,
Sweeney Todd the Barber, they buried him underneath the clay
And Old Nick calls him
from his grave shouting,
"Wake up, Sweeney, I need a shave,
And Mrs Nick wants a permanent
wave from Sweeney Todd the Barber."
It can be argued that George Dibdin Pitt's
"domestic drama,"
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1842), was the
first
true crime play. Critics have speculated, without success,
as to the historical characters
upon which the hero and heroine
were based. Stanley Holloway credits R.P.Weston, a
prolific
writer for the Halls, with the creation of this cante-fabel which
pokes fun at
the melodrama which was so terrifying to Victorians.
Recorded on 'Ere's Olloway, Columbia
Records, 1956 and on An
Evening At The English Music Hall, Front Hall records
FHR-030,
1984.
@work @murder
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