Lydia The Tattooed Lady
Music by Harold Arlen
Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg

As sung by J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho Marx) in "At the Circus"

Note: MP2 and WAV versions of this song can be found at:

(Intro dialog)
Chico: Folks, I wanna you should meet my pal,
my *best* friend. (What's your name again?)

Groucho: Loophole.

Chico: Glad to know ya.

Groucho: It's your pleasure.

Ah this meeting brings back memories--
childhood days! lemonade!! romance!

My life was wrapped around the circus--
her name was Lydia. I met her at the World's
Fair in 1900, marked down from 1940. Ah Lydia.

(ad lib sung/spoken)
She was the most glorious creature under the sun.
Weiss(?)!, DuBarry(?)! Garbo! Rolled into one.

Ahhhhh...

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Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
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Lydia the tattooed lady
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She has eyes that folks adore so
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And a torso even more so
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Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
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Oh Lydia, the queen of tattoo
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On her back is the Battle of Waterloo
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Beside it the Wreck of the Hesperus, too
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And proudly above waves the red, white and blue
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You can learn a lot from Lydia

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(la la la, la la la)
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(la la la, la la la)

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When her robe is unfurled, she will show you the world
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If you step up and tell her where

For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree
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Or Washington crossing the Delaware

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(la la la, la la la)
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(la la la, la la la)

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Ah Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
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Oh Lydia the tattooed lady
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When her muscles start relaxin'
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Up the hill comes Andrew Jackson
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Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
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Oh Lydia, the queen of them all
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For two bits she will do a mazurka in jazz
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With a view of Niagara that nobody has
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And on a clear day, you can see Alcatraz
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You can learn a lot from Lydia

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(la la la, la la la)
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(la la la, la la la)

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Come along and see Buffalo Bill with his lasso
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Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso

Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon
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Here's Godiva but with her pajamas on

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(la la la, la la la)
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(la la la, la la la)

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Here is Grover Whelan unveilin' the Tri-lon
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Over on the west coast we have Treasure Isle-on

Here's Nijinski a-doin' the rumba
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Here's her social security numbah

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(Whistling instead of singing la la la...)
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(Whistling instead of singing la la la...)

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Ah Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclo-pidia
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Oh Lydia, the champ of them all
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She once swept an admiral clear off his feet
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The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat
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And now the old boy's in command of the fleet
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For he went and married Lydia

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I said Lydia
He said Lydia
They said Lydia
We said Lydia
La-la!