Tom Lehrer: The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz                          www.wiw.org/~drz/tom.lehrer

Now, to continue with the love song, here we have the Viennese waltz type of the Franz Lehár, Johann Strauß school conjuring up images of gaily waltzing couples and probably stale champagne drunk from sweaty slippers. This example is called “The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz”:

Do you remember the night I held you so tight,
As we danced to the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz?
The music was gay, and the setting was Viennese.
Your hair wore some roses (or perhaps they were peonies).
I was blind to your obvious faults,
As we danced ’cross the scene
To the strains of the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz. 

Oh, I drank some champagne from your shoe, lalala!
I was drunk by the time I got through, lalala!
For I didn’t know as I raised that cup
It had taken two bottles to fill the thing up.
It was I who stepped on your dress, lalala!
The skirts all came off, I confess, lalala!
Revealing for all of the others to see
Just what it was that endeared you to me. 

I remember the night that I held you so tight,
As we danced to the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz.
Your lips were like wine, if you’ll pardon the simile.
The music was lovely, and quite Rudolf Frimly.*)
I drank wine, you drank chocolate malts
And we both turned quite green
To the strains of the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz.

*) Rudolf Frimly: 1879-1972, American composer; b. Prague. He lived in the U.S. after 1906. Best known of his 33 light operas are The Firefly (1912), Rose Marie (1924), and The Vagabond King (1925).
                                                                                 Tom Lehrer (1952/53), from his record “Tom Lehrer Revisited”

               ANNOTATIONS:

               to conjure up ...................................................................     heraufbeschwören
               stale .................................................................................    abgestanden
               sweaty .............................................................................    verschwitzt
               setting .............................................................................     Rahmen, Schauplatz
               peony ..............................................................................     Pfingstrose
               to the strains ....................................................................     zu den Klängen
               to endear (to) ..................................................................     beliebt machen (bei)
               simile ...............................................................................     Gleichnis, Vergleich
               malt .................................................................................     Malz  

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