Page:Tom Lehrer song lyrics (website).pdf/93

 TANGO DE LA MENEGILDA (from La Gran Vía)

Life is brutal, If you must work as a maid. Hopeless, futile, Overworked and underpaid. And if you just surrender, And if you don't learn to use your head, Though you may live to a hundred, You'll still end up in a poorhouse bed.

As for me, I must say, There were skills that I learned right away. Clothes to wash, beds to make, Floors to sweep, meals to cook, cakes to bake. But it didn't take me long to see That life was passsingpassing [sic] me by. I consulted with my conscience. It said, "Listen, honey, You've learned how to bake, Now just learn how to take Your piece of the cake."

I caught on so well, before anyone knew it, I had some nice clothes and a trinket or two. Perhaps you are wond'ring "How does she do it?" With jewelry and dresses, My road to sucesssuccess [sic] is --- I'd give you three guesses, But I think one will do.

I was sent out Shopping alone evry day. When I went out, They'd give me money to pay, And out of each ten duros I'd end up spending, say, eight or nine, And what was left I deposited With a soldier friend of mine.

Then one day I came back And I found I'd been given the sack Don't know why, don't know how, And I laugh when I think of it now. When my mistress had finished screaming, Her son whispered in my ear. As he paid me my back wages, He said, "Listen, honey, you know what I think." And he said with a wink, "Let me buy you a drink."

I've worked for so many and gotten so clever, That's how I arrived where you find me today. I work for an old man who can't live forever. At the end of my journey With money to burn, e- Ven power of attorney, What more can I say?

original lyrics

Many performances of this song are on YouTube,including a good one by Pasión Vega at www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOT92BvNVTs