Karaoké Housewife's Lament Standards des années 1950

One day I was walking

I heard a complaining

And saw an old woman the picture of gloom

She gazed at the mud on her doorstep t'was raining

And this was her song as she wielded her broom

Life is a trial and love is a trouble

Beauty will fade and riches will flee

Pleasures they dwindle and prices they double

And nothing is as I would wish it to be

It's sweeping at six and it's dusting at seven

It's victuals at eight and the dishes at nine

It's potting and panning from ten to eleven

We scarce break our fast till we plan how to dine

With grease and with grime from the corner to center forever at war and forever alert

No rest for a day lest the enemy enter

I spend my whole life in a struggle with dirt

Life is a trial and love is a trouble

Beauty will fade and riches will flee

Pleasures they dwindle and prices they double

And nothing is as I would wish it to be

Last night in my dreams

I was stationed forever

On a far little rock in the midst of the sea

My one chance of life was a ceaseless endeavor

To sweep off the waves as they swept over me

Alas 'twas no dream ahead I behold it

I see I am helpless my fate to avert

She lay down her broom her apron she folded

She lay down and died and was buried in dirt

Life is a trial and love is a trouble

Beauty will fade and riches will flee

Pleasures they dwindle and prices they double

And nothing is as I would wish it to be