Lyrics
Dear boy, you will not hear me speak
With sorrow or with rancor
Of what has shrivelled up my cheek
And blasted it with canker;
Twas Love, great Love, that did the deed,
Through Nature's gentle laws,
And how should ill effects proceed
From so divine a cause?
Sweet honey comes from bees that sting,
As you are well aware;
To one adept in reasoning,
Whatever pains disease may bring
Are but the tangy seasoning
To Love's delicious fare.
Sweet honey comes from bees that sting.
Columbus and his men, they say,
Conveyed the virus hither,
Whereby my features rot away
And vital powers wither;
Yet had they not traversed the seas
And come infected back,
Why, think of all the luxuries
That modern life would lack!
All bitter things conduce to sweet,
As this example shows;
Without the little spirochete,
We'd have no chocolate to eat
Nor would tobacco's fragrance greet
The European nose.
ll bitter things conduce to sweet.
Each nation guards its native land
With cannon and with sentry,
Inspectors look for contraband
At every point of entry,
Yet nothing can prevent the spread
Of Love's divine disease;
It rounds the world from bed to bed
As pretty as you please.
Men worship Venus everywhere,
As may be plainly seen;
Her decorations which I bear
Are nobler than the croix de guerre,
And gained in service of our fair
And universal Queen.Dear boy.
Men worship Venus everywhere.Dear boy!
With sorrow or with rancor
Of what has shrivelled up my cheek
And blasted it with canker;
Twas Love, great Love, that did the deed,
Through Nature's gentle laws,
And how should ill effects proceed
From so divine a cause?
Sweet honey comes from bees that sting,
As you are well aware;
To one adept in reasoning,
Whatever pains disease may bring
Are but the tangy seasoning
To Love's delicious fare.
Sweet honey comes from bees that sting.
Columbus and his men, they say,
Conveyed the virus hither,
Whereby my features rot away
And vital powers wither;
Yet had they not traversed the seas
And come infected back,
Why, think of all the luxuries
That modern life would lack!
All bitter things conduce to sweet,
As this example shows;
Without the little spirochete,
We'd have no chocolate to eat
Nor would tobacco's fragrance greet
The European nose.
ll bitter things conduce to sweet.
Each nation guards its native land
With cannon and with sentry,
Inspectors look for contraband
At every point of entry,
Yet nothing can prevent the spread
Of Love's divine disease;
It rounds the world from bed to bed
As pretty as you please.
Men worship Venus everywhere,
As may be plainly seen;
Her decorations which I bear
Are nobler than the croix de guerre,
And gained in service of our fair
And universal Queen.Dear boy.
Men worship Venus everywhere.Dear boy!