WHEN THE IDLE POOR BECOME THE IDLE RICH
From Finian's Rainbow, Lyrics by E. Y. Harburg
When the idle poor
Become the idle rich
You'll never know just who is who
or who is which.
Won't it be rich
When everyone's poor relative
Becomes a 'Rockefellative',
And palms no longer itch
What a switch!
When we all wear ermine
And plastic teeth
How will we determine
Who's who underneath?
And when all your neighbors
Are upper class
You won't know your 'Joneses'
from your 'Ass-tors'.
Let's toast the day
The day we drink that drinky up
But with a little pinkie up.
The day on which
The idle poor
Become the idle rich.
When a rich man doesn't want to work
He's a bon vivant.
Yes, he's a bon vivant.
But when a poor man doesn't want to work,
He's a loafer, he's a lounger
He's a lazy good for nothing
He's a jerk!
When a rich man loses on a horse
Isn't he a sport, oh isn't he a sport?
When a poor man looses on a horse
He's a gambler, he's a spender
He's a low life, he's a reason for divorce!
When a rich man chases after dames
He's a man about town,
A man about town.
But when a poor man chases after dames
He's a bounder, he's a rounder
He's a rotter, and a lot of dirty names!
You'll never know
just who is which
When the idle poor
Become the idle rich.
When the idle poor
Become the idle rich
When the idle poor
Become the idle rich
You'll never know
Just who is who
Or who is which
No one will see
The Irish or the Slav in you
'Cause when you're on Park Avenue
Cornelius and Mike
Look alike
When poor Tweedledum
Is rich Tweedledee
This discrimination will no longer be.
When we're in the dough
And off of the nut
You won't know your banker.
from your but...ler.
Let's make the switch.
We just a few annuities
We'll hide these incongruities
With clothes from Abercrombie-Fitch
When the idle poor
Become the idle rich
When de idle poor
Become the idle rich.