Thanks for the memories Bob Hope

Been working on a song book for the old folks to sing along with.  almost done.  One of the most complicated songs in the book, in fact taking a whole page, is Thanks for the Memories.

Bob Hope used it as a theme song, making up his own lyrics instead of using the complicated ones below.  The lyrics are sung by a lover who had a strange affair with his (her) sweetheart, which included a Hudson River cruise and a visit to Singapore among other delights. What a couple.  They toured Germany and Greece together. Wow.

Here is my transcription of the complicated lament, used without permission, until I hear from ASCAP.  (If you have time to spare, try charting the rhyme scheme....I dare you.)

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

Thanks for the memory - of candelight and wine

Castles on the Rhine - The Parthenon and

Moments on the Hudson River Line -

How Lovely it was

Thanks for the memory of many afternoons

Swingy Harlem tunes

And motor trips and burning lips

and burning toast and prunes

How Lovely it was

Many’s the time that we feasted

And many’s the time that we fasted

Oh, well, it was swell while it lasted.

We did have fun and no harm done.

And thanks for the memory of sunburns at the shore

Nights in Singapore.

You might have been a headache, but you never were a bore.

So thank you so much

Thanks for the memory of sentimental verse

Nothing in your purse and chuckles when the preacher said, “For better or for worse.”

How lovely it was

Thanks for the memory of lingerie with lace

Pilsner by the case And oh how I jumped when you trumped my ace How lovely it was

We said “Goodbye” with a highball -

Then I got high as a steeple, but we were intelligent people - no tears- no fuss Hurray for us

So thanks for the memory and strictly entre nous

Darling how are you? Awfully glad I met you

Cheerio and toodleoo - And thank you so much.