French in Action

Words and music: Alvah Allen
Performed by: Alvah Allen on the Southern Amusement 1928 LP (c. 2004)

Lyrics:

Well you’re prettier than Murielle
I’m more rugged than Robert
You’re on your 28th Galoises
I’m down to my last Flaubert
I spent the whole last semester
With my heart in emotional traction
But now I’m lying here next to you baby
And I’m, I’m putting my French in action
Well I spent a solid year with a little black cloud
That spoke Italian, one day she just kind of turned around
And said, “son, I think you’re laboring over a misconception”
I wrote “marry me” in La Monde but they wouldn’t run the retraction
But now I’m lying here next to you baby
And I’m, I’m putting my French in action

And sometimes I don’t know which I like more
Should it be Je t’aime
Should it be Je t’aime or je t’adore

If I only had a dime for every Goddamn mime
Ever followed me around climbing imaginary climbs
I’d sink it all in lumber
And build the former a never ending ladder
I fell in among Girondistes unable to form a faction
But now I’m lying here next to you baby
And I’m, I’m putting my French in action

And sometimes I don’t know which I like more
Should it be Je t’aime
Should it be Je t’aime or je t’adore