When I Joined Tammany Hall – Lyrics

Since I Joined Tammany Hall
Words and Music by Lou Edmunds
Published 1893 by Wm. A. Pond & Co.

[Verse 1]
I live way up in Har-lem
in a qui-et neigh-bor hood,
I keep a la-b’rers board-ing house
and give the best of food;

Right next door lives an Al-der-man,
Mc Car-thy is his name,
And with his fi-ery speech-es
has my board-ers near in-sane;

He prom-ised if e-lect-ed
he would give them all a job,
And all that they re-quir-ed
was a horse and dump-ing cart;

He prom-ised them all mon-ey
gave them tick-ets for his ball,
And sent me word he’d close me up,
or else join Tam-man-y Hall.

[Chorus]
I’m a lead-ing pol-i-ti-cian now,
and ve-ry glad of that;
They call me a ti-ger since
I join’d the Dem-o-crats;

My house it is so crow-ded
I tore the pa-per off the wall,
I’m proud-er than the Pres-i-dent
since I joined Tam-man-y Hall.

[Verse 2]
Now that he is e-lec-ted,
of my board-ers all made fools,
For some of them bought hor-ses
and oth-ers hi-red mules;

They al-so hired a stab-le
where they con-gre-gate each night,
And ex-pect to meet Mc Car-thy,
but the black-guard’s out of sight;

They se-lected a com-mit-tee,
and a let-ter to him sent,
For none of them are work-ing
and I can-not pay my rent;

An oath they took they’d knife him
if he runs a-gain next fall,
Each mo-ment brings more troub-le
since I joined Tam-man-y Hall.

[Repeat chorus]

[Verse 3]
They’re cry-ing for satis-fac-tion,
they’re the dev-il’s own lot,
And just so soon they meet him,
he’ll find it rath-er hot,

For the butch-er and the land-lord
they all do want their bill,
If Mc Car-thy don’t show up to-night
there’ll be crape upon the hill,

In his speech he said his mot-to
was an old one tried and true;
“Do un-to oth-ers as you would
that they should do to you,”

He swore he’d keep his word
and took an oath by St. Paul,
But things have tak’n a hor-rid turn
since I joined Tam-man-y Hall.

[Repeat chorus]