Lyrics

Back in 1913 Ebenezer wrote this song
But he forgot to write it down, so it didn’t stick around for long
Got a ride on a mail train all the way to Santa Fe
Then hit the road and ended up in ‘Frisco Bay
Meanwhile, Ebenezer searched the corners of his brain
Tried to find that little song, but all his efforts were in vain
Though he found a sonata, two operettas and a B-flat major symphony
And the answer to a question he missed in high school history

Out in San Francisco the song had joined a band
Fell in love with a cakewalk tune, offered that tune its hand
Getting ready for the wedding, packing up its bags
Got the news it love had run off with a Joplin rag
Meanwhile, Ebenezer’s music brought him wealth and fame
Up in lights across the city, there was Ebenezer’s name
At parties and receptions, he’d wave and smile as people gathered in a throng
But everywhere he went he’d search the faces for his little song

That broken-hearted song had run away to Paris, France
Tried to join the Foreign Legion, drank and learned to dance
Up all night with jazz musicians, sleeping late each day
Took up with a gypsy singer in a cabaret
Meanwhile, Ebenezer sailed to Paris on his yacht
For the premiere of his opera, called “The Song That Time Forgot”
On his way to the opera he heard a familiar tune from a dingy cabaret
“No,” he thought, “it couldn’t be,” and sighed as he went on his way

Bridge: Then the song took off for parts unknown, and Ebenezer sailed back home
Though he thought about it now and then, he never saw his song again. . .

But when I woke up this morning, the song was in my head
“C’mon, get up ya lazy bum, and write me down,” it said
“I ain’t just some vaudeville song, I’m high-class poetry
“That ain’t how that line goes, weren’t ya listening to me?
“It goes. . .

"Back in 1913 Ebenezer wrote this song
But he forgot to write it down, so it didn't stick around for long
Got a ride on a mail train all the way to Santa Fe
Then hit the road and ended up in 'Frisco Bay"
(Simultaneously with the first voice:)

Way back in 1913 good old Ebenezer wrote this song
But something else distracted him and he forgot to write it down
The song took off on a fast-bound rattler
Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe
Then hit that lonesome highway
Down to ‘Frisco Bay