"Life Upon the Wicked Stage" is a song featured in the 1951 film Show Boat with music composed by Jerome Kern and lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.
In this witty, sardonic comedy number, showgirl Ellie Mae Shipley (Marge Champion) amusingly laments the lack of glamour in her showbiz career. Ellie’s comical but clear-eyed assessment of the entertainment world foreshadows the difficulties Magnolia Hawks (Kathryn Grayson) will later face as she pursues the life of a performer.
Lyrics[]
Ellie:
Life upon the wicked stage
Ain't ever what a girl supposes
Stage-door Johnnies aren't
Raging over you with gems and roses
When you let a feller hold your hand
Which means an extra beer or sandwich,
Ev'rybody whispers,
“Ain't her life a whirl?”
Though you're warned against a roué
Ruining your reputation,
I have played around
The one night trade around
This great big nation
Wild old men who give you jewels and sables
Only live in Aesop's Fables
Life upon the wicked stage
Ain't nothin' for a girl
Man:
Though I've listened to you moan and grieve,
You must pardon me if we do not believe you,
There is no doubt
You're crazy about
Your awful stage!
Ellie:
I admit it's fun to smear my face with paint,
Causing everyone to think I'm what I ain't,
And I like to play a demimonde role
With soul!
Ask the hero does he like the way I lure
When I play a hussy or a paramour?
Yet, when once the curtain's down,
My life is pure, and how I dread it!
Life upon the wicked stage
Ain't never what a girl supposes
Stage-door Johnnies
Aren't raging over you
With gems and roses
I've got talent
But it ain't been tested
No one's even interested
Life upon the wicked stage
Ain't nothing for a girl
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