What Can the Matter Be?
Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?
Princetonians for Trump, 2019
A song for a female soloist and a chorus;
the chorus sings the penultimate stanza as well as the refrain stanzas.
Tune sung with traditional lyrics in animated cartoon at http://youtu.be/OLPbq_vpzwI.
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Dear, dear, what can the matter be,
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Skippy’s so long at the school?
He told me we’d dine at his club at six-thirty,
He told me we’d dine at his club at six-thirty,
He told me we’d dine at his club at six-thirty,
And lateness is very uncool.
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Dear, dear, what can the matter be,
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Skippy’s so long at the school?
He promised to take me to Greenwich this weekend,
He promised to take me to Greenwich this weekend,
He promised to take me to Greenwich this weekend,
To swim in his big indoor pool.
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Dear, dear, what can the matter be,
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Skippy’s so long at the school?
He said that we’d go to his place in the islands,
He said that we’d go to his place in the islands,
He said that we’d go to his place in the islands,
But this is the eighth day of Yule.
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Dear, dear, what can the matter be,
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Skippy’s so long at the school?
He swore that he’d date me all house parties weekend,
He swore that he’d date me all house parties weekend,
He swore that he’d date me all house parties weekend,
Oh how could a boy be so cruel?
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Dear, dear, what can the matter be,
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Skippy’s so long at the school?
He promised to rent us a house in the Hamptons,
He promised to rent us a house in the Hamptons,
He promised to rent us a house in the Hamptons,
My friends will all think me a fool.
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Dear, dear, what can the matter be,
Oh dear, what can the matter be –
Preppies have nothing to do?
Four years with preppies is driving us bonkers, or
Four years with preppies has driven us bonkers.
From more years with preppies, dear Donald, please save us,
’Cause they’re why we voted for you.
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Dear, dear, what can the matter be,
Oh dear, what can the matter be,
Preppies have nothing to do?
The Beach Club at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach
(Image immediately posted on the “Amenities” page of the website of The Mar-a-Lago Club, http://www.maralagoclub.com.)
(The photo at the head of this page is of the interior of a Vineyard Vines store, accompanying "A Whale of a Sale," Washington Busines Journal, December 12, 2017, online here.) The earliest known printing of the original English nursery rhyme parodied above dates from the 18th century. It has no known author and, due to oral transmission, diverse lyrics. First posted: February 2019Last updated: February 2019