Ten Cents a Dance

Ten Cents a Dance - Ruth Etting

I work at the Palace Ball

But gee that palace is cheap

When I get back to my chilly hallroom

I'm much too tired to sleep

I'm one of those lady teachers

A beautiful hostess you know

The kind the palace features

At exactly a dime a throw

Ten cents a dance

That's what they pay me

Gosh how they weigh me down

Ten cents a dance

Pansys and rough guys

Tough guys who tear my gown

Seven to midnight I hear drums

Loudly the saxaphone blows

Trumpets are breaking my eardrums

Customers crush my toes

Sometimes I think I've found my hero

But it's a queer romance

All that you need is a ticket

Come on big boy

Ten cents a dance

Fighters and sailors

And bow-legged tailors

Can pay for a ticket and rent me

Butchers and barbers

And rats from the harbors

Are sweethearts my good luck

Has sent me

Though I've a chorus of elderly beaus

Stockings are porous

With holes in the toes

I'm there till closing time

Dance and be merry

It's only a dime

Ten cents a dance

That's what they pay me

Gosh how they weigh me down

Ten cents a dance

Pansys and rough guys

Tough guys who tear my gown

Seven to midnight I hear drums

Loudly the saxaphone blows

Trumpets are breaking my eardrums

Customers crush my toes

Sometimes I think I've found my hero

But it's a queer romance

All that you need is a ticket

Come on big boy

Ten cents a dance