“My Sweet”

Ev’ry kid on the block has a sweetheart,
A pearly he looks to with pride
And when the old moon starts a-dreaming
He flies like a bird to her side
Have you heard of Mamie Maloney
You did? well you know she’s alright.
The real thing you bet not a phoney
She’s my sweet, say she’s not and I’ll fight.

Chorus:
My sweet my sweet, the copper while passing says isn’t she neat,
My sweet my sweet, the newsies admit, she’s the belle of the street,
There’s a little cosy corner in the subway of my heart
That’s locked up you see,
And I’ve handed the key to my sweet, sweetheart.

I don’t mean to always sell papers
Although I makes pretty good pay
It’s honest and there aint no tellin’
I might be a mayor some day
Or head of the great knights of labor
For hist’ry is known to repeat.
Or Willie K. Vanderbilt’s neighbor
In a brown stone with my little sweet.

Words by William Jerome,
Music by Jean Schwartz
Performed by Joseph Cawthorn in the 1905 musical “In Tammany Hall”