The Ragtime Dance

The Ragtime Dance
Music by Scott Joplin, adapted by John Forster
Lyrics by John Forster & Tom Chapin
© 1994 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)

“Please Dad…”
“One more story…”
Okay…
Here’s a story of a melody,
It’s called the Ragtime Dance.
It’s a very special melody,
It’s called the Ragtime Dance.
It’s a vital piece of family history that your
Great-grandmother held so dear.
If it hadn’t been for the Ragtime Dance,
None of us would be here.
“Why?”
“Shhh! He’ll tell us.”

One day, way back in 19 and 2,
One fateful Sunday Great-grandpa sat in a pew.
He glanced across the aisle,
Great-grandma flashed a smile
And that’s what started the Great Romance.
At the church door he met her casually
And so the next week he got invited to tea,
And there he courted her
By playing the Ragtime Dance.
“You play so well.”
“Glad you like it. It’s the only song I know. ...Myrna?”
“Yes.”
“Would you marry me?”
They promenaded down the aisle
To the Ragtime Dance.
“What’s promenaded?” “They got married.” “Oh.”
“What happened next, Dad?”
The kids came, Corrina, Theo and Bill,
They bought the big house up on Montgomery Hill
And every night he’d come home whistling...

Then came the Great War, World War I,
And your Great-grandpa had to pick up a gun.
He sailed off to France with the other young men
Where he fought in the trenches
Uuntil one day when…
A bomb blew up not far away,
When the smoke cleared there he lay.
They shipped him home into a hospital,
He lay there staring into space.
He didn’t speak. He didn’t move at all.
He didn’t know Great-grandma’s face.
For weeks and weeks she came and sat with him
But couldn’t break into his trance,
Then one day she thought of the Ragtime Dance.
The next day she brought a Victrola back at dawn,
Wound it up and put a record on.

And he moved his hand, and he turned his head,
And he looked at Great-grandma and said,
“Glad you like it. It’s the only song I know.”
And she laughed and cried and hugged him
To the Ragtime Dance.
“So what happened?”
“He woke up.”
“Was he okay?”
“Yes! He was okay.”

Now look here, this picture up on the shelf,
Your Great-grandmother,
And Great-grandfather himself.
He lived to 93 and guess what? So did she.
That’s why we call it the Great Romance.

“Did you ever meet them?”
Sure…
I still remember their Golden Jubilee Day,
He wore his best suit,
Great-grandma asked him to play.
And as he played we all sashayed
To the Ragtime Dance.

Now that’s the last story.
“Aw please, Dad.”
“One more?”
Nope. Good night.

This song appears on Tom Chapin's Zag Zig CD.

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