High and the Mighty - Les Baxter

The Poor People Of Paris

-instrumental version by Les Baxter was the # 18 song of the 1955−1959 rock era

-his version was # 1 for 6 weeks in 1956

-competing versions charted by Lawrence Welk (#17), Russ Morgan (#19), and

-Chet Atkins (#52)

-English Words by Jack Lawrence and Music by Marguerite Monnot

-written in 1954 as «La Goualante De Pauvre Jean» and introduced by Edith Piaf

Just got back from Paris, France

All they do is sing and dance

All they’ve got there is romance

What a tragedy

Every boulevard has lovers

Every lover’s in a trance

The poor people of Paree

I feel sorry for the French

Every guy has got a wench

Every couple’s got a bench

Kissing shamelessly

Night and day they’re making music

While they’re making love in French

The poor people of Paree

Milk or water from the sink

Make a true Parisian shrink

Wine is all he’ll ever drink

And it worries me

For with wine as cheap as water

Oh, it makes one stop and think

The poor people of Paree

Sister met a boy named Pierre

Had the craziest affair

And the day they parted there

He cried bitterly

Pierre was there to bid her farewell

But he brought his new girl, Claire

The poor people of Paree

So don’t go to Paris, France

Not unless you like to dance

Not unless you want romance

Like those poor inhabitants of Paree