The smile came early in the morning.
Listening to the radio,
Reading poetry,
When this tune came over the air.
I knew that tune,
But not played like that.
It is from an opera,
An opera I know so well,
Just excerpts from it.
There is the Anvil Chorus,
It is Il Trovatore,
An opera I know so well
But I have never heard it
Played like this.
I had to smile,
As they played the opera,
In Ragtime!