Boulevardier From The Bronx

Written for: Colleen (1936)
Performer: Jack Oakie & Joan Blondell
Lyric: Al Dubin
Music: Harry Warren
Year: 1936
Original publisher: M. Witmark & Sons

Sheet music version:

Verse:

In a swell café one evening sat a bounder and a girl,
She was shy and bashful, he was bold and gay;
With a flourish, he gave his mustachios another twirl,
And in a boastful manner he did say:

Male chorus:

Oh, the gay life, the high life,
Has always been my life,
And maybe you think I don't love it;
I'm a cane and a spat man,
A tux and top hat man,
A Boulevardier from the Bronx.
I've had bacon and blintzes
With barons and princes
And never thought anything of it;
I'm a five o'clock tea man,
But strictly a he-man,
A Boulevardier from the Bronx.
Hi ho hum,
I'm a debonair
Beau Brummel;
Hi ho hum,
Pass the pom-de-terre
And Moselle.
Ev'ry young Junior Leaguer
Is anxious and eager
To meet me when she goes a-slumming;
But with all of my poise,
I'm still one of the boys,
Just a Boulevardier from the Bronx.

Duet chorus:

(Girl:) I once ran about town
With a man about town,
But he never had your charming manners;
It's an honor to meet with,
To sit down and eat with
A Boulevardier from the Bronx.
And it's great to feel free
With a saucer of tea,
With a feller who knows his "bananers";
To enjoy a good glass
Of this fine demitasse,
With a Boulevardier from the Bronx.
(Both:) Hi ho hum,
(Boy:) I'm a debonair
Beau Brummel;
(Both:) Hi ho hum,
(Boy:) Pass the foi-de-gras,
(Girl:) Gee, you're swell!
Ev'rything that you say
Is correct and o-kay,
So polite and so perfectly proper;
That I'm sort of suspicious,
Your kiss may be vicious,
You Boulevardier from the Bronx.
You're galawnt.
(Boy:) No, gallant!
(Girl:) Nonshawlawnt,
(Boy:) Nonshallant!
(Both:) Just a Boulevardier from the Bronx!

Movie version:

Chorus 1:

(Jack Oakie:) Oh, the gay life, the high life,
Has always been my life,
And maybe you think I don't love it;
I'm a cane and a spat man,
A tux and top hat man,
A Boulevardier from the Bronx.
I've had bacon and blintzes
With Barons and Princes
And never thought anything of it;
I'm a five o'clock tea man,
But strictly a he-man,
A Boulevardier from the Bronx.
Hi ho hum,
I'm a debonair
Beau Brummel;
Hi ho hum,
Pass the pom-de-terre
And Moselle.
Now ev'ry young Junior Leaguer
Is anxious and eager
To meet me when she goes a-slumming;
But with all of my poise,
I'm still one of the boys,
Just a Boulevardier from the Bronx.

Chorus 2:

(Joan Blondell:) I once ran about town
With a man about town,
But he never had your charming manners;
It's an honor to meet with,
To sit down and eat with
A Boulevardier from the Bronx.
And it's great to feel free
With a saucer of tea,
With a feller who knows his "bananers";
To enjoy a good glass
Of this fine demitasse,
With a Boulevardier from the Bronx.
(Oakie:) Hi ho hum,
I'm a debonair
Beau Brummel;
Hi ho hum,
Pass the Foi-de-gras,
(Blondell:) Say, you're swell!
Ev'rything that you say
Is correct and o-kay,
So polite and so perfectly proper,
That I'm sort of suspicious,
Your kiss may be vicious,
You Boulevardier from the Bronx.

<Instrumental interlude and dance>

Coda:

(Blondell:) You're galawnt.
(Oakie:) No, gallant!
(Blondell:) Nonshawlawnt,
(Oakie:) Nonshallant!
(Both:) Just a Boulevardier from the Bronx!