Ragtime Opera Medley

[Stella:]

Aida

There's not a melody sweeter

But you'll be sweeter when we begin turning you into a rag

Aida

We're gonna chop up your meter

We're getting tired of you and so

Here's where we're going to hurdy gurdy Mister Verdi

Op'ra

You always sound like an uproar

And that's the reason it's not a sin turning you into a rag

You'll soon be placed with the popular taste

For we're going to rearrange you, change you to a rag

[Ernesta:]

Dreamy

La Boheme

We will hesitate to you

Tho' we aggravate Puccini

He may

Roar and scream

Nevertheless we will hesitate to La Boheme

[Algy:]

Op'ra lovers if you'll grant us your pardon

We'll take the Garden scene from Faust

[Hardacre:]

And we'll rearrange the flower song

And call it our song

[Algy:]

Because it's melody makes a dreamy Maxixe

Op'ra lovers if you do not approve of what we remove of Faust

Just "roust" and occupy back seats while we maxixe

To the Flower song from Faust

[Birdie:]

Everybody's doing it so we'll do the tango

To the strains of Carmen

O'er the floor

Let ev'ry Carmen take a Toreador

And throw her arms around him while they go dancing

To that entrancing melody

There's something in the rhythm of that refrain

That suits us perfectly

That's the reason we do the Tango to

The Carmen melody

[Refrain:]

Oh, you Pagliacci

You make a wonderful one-step a barrel of fun-step

And so before we're through

We'll make a one-step out of you

We like you Pagliacci

Because your melody mellow

By Leon Cavallo

Affords us something new

And so we'll one-step to you

[Verdi:] Please don't rag my melody

[Chorus:] We hate to tantalize you but we mean to modernize you

[Verdi:] Let my Rigoletto be

[Chorus:] We want you syncopated even though we know you hate it

[Verdi:] Tell me why you pick on me

[Chorus:] Because you're out of fashion, syncopation is our passion

[Verdi:] Really I'm as mad as a man can be

[Chorus:] So are we, so are we

[Verdi:] You know it's wrong

[Chorus:] What's wrong? What's wrong?

[Verdi:] To change my song

[Chorus:] Your song is wrong

[Verdi:] 'Twill drive me mad

[Chorus:] Too bad, too bad

[Verdi:] You'll have to stop!

[Chorus:] No! No! No! No!

[Verdi:] I ask you not to rag my melody

[Chorus:] You'll never recognize it from the way that we'll disguise it

[Verdi:] Tell me why, oh, why does it have to be

[Chorus:]

We're growing weary of your dreary little melody

That's why we play it the way it ought to be

[Verdi:] You needn't bother, I would rather you would let it be

[Chorus:] There's nothing to it, we'll do it easily

[Verdi:] Please don't

[Chorus:] We will

[Verdi:] Don't rag my Rigoletto

[Chorus:] We will

[Verdi:] Again I say

[Chorus:] What do you say? What do you say?

[Verdi:] You'll have to stop

[Chorus:] No!

[Verdi:] Yes!

[Chorus:] No!

[Verdi:] Yes!

[Chorus:] No!

[Verdi:] Yes!

[Chorus:] No!

[Verdi:] Yes!

[Chorus:] No!

[Verdi:] You'll have to stop

[Chorus:] No! No! No! No!

[Verdi:] Why are you tired of my melody

[Chorus:] We hate to pay admission for your dreary composition

[Verdi:] It doesn't sound the same to me

[Chorus:] You'll notice in a minute that we put some ginger in it

[Verdi:] You have changed the harmony

[Chorus:] You must admit it's sweeter even though we changed the meter

[Verdi:] Won't you spare my poor Rigoletto

[Chorus:]

Oh, you know, it's slow and so

We'll sprinkle on your melody a bit of originality

[Verdi:] Kindly spare it

[Chorus:] We will tear it

[Verdi:] Don't you dare it

[Chorus:] You must bear it

[Verdi:] Stop!

[Chorus:] We're going to rag it

[Verdi:] Stop!

[Chorus:] We're going to rag it

[Verdi:] Stop!

[Chorus:] We're going to rag it

[Verdi:] Stop!

[Chorus:] We're going to rag it

[Verdi:] No!

[Chorus:] Rag, rag, rag, rag your Rigoletto

[Verdi:] No!

[Chorus:]

Oh, you Pagliacci

You make a wonderful one-step a barrel of fun-step

And so before we're through

We'll make a one-step out of you

We like you Pagliacci

Because your melody mellow

By Leon Cavallo

Affords us something new

And so we'll one-step to you