PART TWO

The Big Time

When life seems full of clouds an’ rain

and I am filled with naught but pain,

who soothes my thumpin’ bumpin’ brain?

Nobody.

When winter comes with snow an’ sleet,

and me with hunger and cold feet,

who says “Ah, here’s two bits, go an’ eat!”

Nobody.

I ain’t never got nothin’ from nobody, no time!

And until I get somethin’ from somebody, sometime,

I don’t intend to do nothin’ for nobody, no time!

—Bert Williams and Alex Rogers,
Nobody, 1905