Ten Cents a Dance (Simple Simon) - Ruth Etting

I work at the Palace Ballroom, but

Gee that Palace is cheap;

When I get back to my chilly hall room

I’m much too tired to sleep

I’m one of those lady teachers

A beautiful hostess, you know

The kind the Palace features

For only a dime a throw

Ten cents a dance

That’s what they pay me

Gosh, how they weigh me down!

Ten cents a dance

Pansies and rough guys

Tough guys who tear my gown!

Seven to midnight I hear drums

Loudly the saxophone blows

Trumpets are tearing my eardrums

Customers crush my toes

Sometime I think

I’ve found my hero

But it’s a queer romance

All that you need is a ticket

Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance

Fighters and sailors and bowlegged tailors

Can pay for their ticket and rent me!

Butchers and barbers and rats from the harbors

Are sweethearts my good luck has sent me

Though I’ve a chorus of elderly beaux

Stockings are porous with holes at the toes

I’m here till closing time

Dance and be merry, it’s only a dime

Sometime I think

I’ve found my hero

But it’s a queer romance

All that you need is a ticket

Come on, big boy, ten cents a dance