TAKE ME BACK TO BROADWAY, WHERE THE ORCHIDS GROW WITH APOLOGIES TO THE WESTERN DIALECT POETS

"I have wandered up and down somewhat in many different lands

I have been to Fort Worth, Texas, and I've tramped through Jersey sands,

I have seen Pike's Peak by Moonlight, and I've visited the Fair

And to save enumeration I've been nearly everywhere. But no matter where

I rested and no matter where I'd go, I have longed to be on Broadway

Where

the

Orchids

Grow.

Some people love the lilies fair that hide in mossy dells

Some folks are fond of new mown hay, before the rainy spells

But give to me the orchids rare that hang in Thorley's store,

And in Fleischman's at the Hoffman, and in half a dozen more

And when I see them far from home they make my heart's blood glow

For they take me back to Broadway

Where

the

Orchids

Grow.

Let Paris boast of boulevards where one can sit and drink

There is no such chance on Broadway, at the Brower House,

'I don't think.'

And where else are there fair soubrettes in pipe clayed tennis shoes,

And boys in silken sashes promenading by in twos

Oh you can boast of any street of which you're proud to know

But give me sleepy Broadway

Where

the

Orchids

Grow.

Let poets sing of chiming bells and gently lowing kine

I like the clanging cable cars like fire engines in line

And I never miss the sunset and for moonlight never sigh

When 'Swept by Ocean Breezes.' flashes out against the sky.

And when the Tenderloin awakes, and open theatres glow

I want to be on Broadway

Where

the

Orchids

Grow."