The Fireworks Display

Written for: Summer Holiday (1948)
Performer: NONE (not used)
Lyric: Ralph Blane
Music: Harry Warren
Year: 1946
Original publisher: Harry Warren Music, Inc.

Chorus:

(Arthur:) Come to the beach, to the beach
Where the fireworks that flare in the air,
High in the air, light up the night on the bay.
(All:) A parade of rockets bursting,
(Mildred:) Lemonade if you are thirsting;
(Arthur:) Man has made some constellations
For the nation's natal day.
(All:) So, come to the beach, to the beach
Where the fireworks that flare in the air,
High in the air, carve us a marvelous sight!
There'll be bombs full of thunder
To fill us with wonder,
So, come to the beach tonight.
(Arthur, spoken:) Oh look! They're about to start the display!
(All, spoken:) Hooray!
(Mildred, sung:) As the fireworks begin,
Holland windmills'll spin
Amid hundreds of flaming red poppies;
(Arthur:) Then a wagon with trims
On its sputtering rims
Rolls by with some fancy jalopies.
(Mildred:) We can gaze for a while
On the sparkling smile
Of a portrait of Mona Lisa.
(All:) But, wait till you've seen
Little Jack and his bean
Growing higher and higher!
Higher and higher!
Bursting its green-colored fire!
(Arthur:) Higher than the leaning Tower of Pisa!
(Men:) It's a most remarkable day
(All:) For the most remarkable fireworks display!
(Elsie:) There'll be pinwheels,
Wheels within wheels,
That explode into old Paisley shawls;
(Arthur:) There'll be chain stars,
Skies'll rain stars
When they recreate Niagara Falls!
(All:) What a shower of silver and gold,
What a shower of fire to behold!
(Elsie:) If the fuses are strung
And the cable is hung,
It begins to ignite with perfection;
(Arthur:) If the fuses are lit,
We can all safely sit
If the wind's in the right direction.
(Mildred:) There'll be comets that twinkle
And slithery snakes
Spinning action of breathtaking splendor!
(Arthur:) Spouting elephants pink,
An assortment that makes
Ya feel like you've been on a bender!
(All:) Pyrotechnical fishes will leap and fly,
Darting over and under the water;
(Arthur:) Then a rooster and hen'll go racing by,
(Little boy:) Last year he very near caught 'er!
(Men:) In her plumes of feathery spray,
Oh, ho, ho, what a wonderful fireworks display.
(Little boy:) There's a statue of Liberty holding review
For a battleship fleet that's complete with a crew;
And then when the battle's beginning to sag;
There's Betsy Ross sewing the flag!
(Arthur, spoken:) Then they release a great silver fountain,
Their last masterpiece, Vesuvius Mountain!
(Arthur, sung:) Erupting it's lava away,
It's the last days of Pompei!
(All:) Hooray, hooray, hooray!
Oh, what a wonderful fireworks display!
(All:) So, come to the beach, to the beach
Where the fireworks that flare in the air,
High in the air, carve us a marvelous sight!
There'll be bombs full of thunder
To fill us with wonder
On Fourth of July,
(Let's give a cheer!)
Fourth of July,
(Once ev'ry year!)
When the fireworks appear,
You'll be glad you were here
At the beach tonight.