Today
Buck Clayton and His Orchestra Lyrics

I would like you to listen
Please give me your full attention and lend an ear

Pay attention and listen
Be attentive and focus on what I'm about to say

To a story that's old, but never stale
This tale is something you may have heard before, but it's still worth repeating

To a twentieth century fairy tale
This story is modern and relevant to our current time

Once there was a princess
There existed a female royalty

Once there was a guy
A man existed

And they fell in love one wonderful day
They experienced the feeling of love on a beautiful day

But she was a princess
The female character was noble and of high rank

He was just a guy
The male character was a commoner

So there was the royal devil to pay
There would be severe consequences for breaking societal norms

They were ordered not to speak to one another
They were forbidden to communicate

And they knew the sorrow that would bring
They were aware of the pain that would come with not being able to communicate

Still, they promised not to speak to one another
However, they pledged to follow the rules and not speak

But they didn't promise not to sing
They found a loophole and allowed themselves to vocally express their love for each other

So beneath her window tenderly he sang
He sang carefully and softly under her window, hoping not to attract attention

All the things he promised never to say
He said all the things he shouldn't have said

He collected lots of corny little phrases
He gathered many cheesy expressions

Like "I love you, dear" and "You're for me"
Examples of the cheesy phrases

But he found that when he set them all to music
He realized that by adding melody, the phrases sounded much better

They were just as good as poetry
The resulting lyrics were just as artistic as conventional written poetry

"How about that happy ending in May?"
An example of one of the serenading verses

Once upon a time today
This modern tale occurred in present day