"George" by William Bolcom

Christy Kotsonaros sings a song about an alcoholic drag queen! ha ha (Unfortunately the video clips off the very end!) The audience keeps laughing so if you can tell what the lyrics/story are, here they are:


My friend George
Used to say
"Oh, call me Georgia, hon,
Get yourselves a drink."
And sang the best soprano
In our part of town
In beads, brocade and pins
He sang if you happened in
Through the door he never locked
And said, "Get yourselves a drink."
And sang out loud
Till tears fell in the cognac
And in the chocolate milk and gin
And on the beads, brocade and pins

When strangers happened through his open door
George said, "Stay, but you gotta keep quiet
While I sing, and then a minute after,
And call me Georgia."

One fine day a stranger
In a suit of navy blue
Took George's life
With a knife
George had placed beside an apple pie he'd baked
And stabbed him in the middle
Of Un bel di vedremo
Which he sang for this particular stranger
Who was in the United States Navy.

The funeral was at the cocktail hour
We knew George would like it that way
Tears fell on the beads, brocade and pins
In the coffin
Which was white
Because George was a virgin

Oh, call him Georgia, hon
Get yourself a drink

You can call me Georgia, hon
Get yourself a drink!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Christy
• Kotsonaros
• sings
• Bolcom's
• George

[airmanjerm]

@Vermontfudge: it's a cabaret song and it's supposed to be funny. Lighten up, nobody is making fun of gay people. Half the audience in this video was gay, and they had a grand old time.

[K3yP1ayer]

Why did you cut off the ending?

[airmanjerm]

I proposed to her after this song (it was the last on the recital), and the girl working the camera was afraid she would miss that so she picked up the camera to get closer and accidentally unplugged it. Luckily we got the audio recording from the stage microphone. :)

[vermontfudge1]

Why is this played for cheap laughs? Why is the audience laughing? Is it funny when a gay guy gets murdered? This is disgusting.

[MusicRecordings]

This is SO GOOD!

[treehuggerj]

wow! great job with this song!! I love it! I just wish i could see her face. I like particularly what she did in the instrumental part-too bad it got cut off.

[lovesGenet]

always a joy to hear Bolcolm's cabaret songs .thanks for posting.

[ActorSinger51]

I've seen the composer and his wife live. He's amazing!

[CriticalListener]

Thank you for posting this song. What a funny, sad song about a funny, sad person. Well done!