Alan Jay Lerner - What Do the Simple Folk Do? lyrics

[GUENEVERE] What do the simple folk do To help them escape when they're blue? The shepard who is ailing, the milkmaid who is glum The cobbler who is wailing from nailing his thumb When they're beset and besieged The folk not noblessly obliged However do they manage to shed their weary lot? Oh, what do simple folk do we do not? [ARTHUR] I have been informed by those who know them well They find relief in quite a clever way When they're sorely pressed, they whistle for a spell And whistling seems to brighten up their day And that's what simple folk do So they say [GUENEVERE] They whistle? [ARTHUR] So they say [GUENEVERE] What else do the simple folk do To pluck up the heart and get through? The wee folk and the grown folk Who wander to and fro Have ways known to their own folk We throne folk don't know When all the doldrums begin What keeps each of them in his skin? What ancient native custom provides the needed glow? Oh, what do simple folk do? Do you know? [ARTHUR] Once, upon the road, I came upon a lad Singing in a voice three times his size When I asked him why, he told me he was sad And singing always made his spirits rise And that's what simple folk do I surmise [GUENEVERE] They sing? [ARTHUR] I surmise [GUENEVERE/ARTHUR] Arise, my love, arise, my love Apollo's lighting the skies, my love The meadows shine with columbine And daffodils blossom away Hear Venus call to one and all And taste delight while you may The world is bright and all is right And life is merry and gay [GUENEVERE] What else do the simple folk do? They must have a system or two They obviously outshine us at turning tears to mirth And tricks a royal highness is minus from birth What, then, I wonder, do they To chase all the goblins away? They have some tribal sorcery you haven't mentioned yet Oh, what do simple folk do to forget? [ARTHUR] Often, I am told, they dance a fiery dance And whirl till they're completely uncontrolled Soon the mind is blank and oh, they're in a trance A violent trance astounding to behold And that's what simple folk do So I'm told [GUENEVERE] What else do the simple folk do To help them escape when they're blue? [ARTHUR] They sit around and wonder what royal folk would do And that's what simple folk do [GUENEVERE] Oh, no, really? [ARTHUR] I have it on the best authority [GUENEVERE/ARTHUR] Yes, that's what simple folk do