Tea for Two
Lester Young & Nat "King" Cole Lyrics

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Picture you upon my knee
Just tea for two
And two for tea
Just me for you
And you for me alone

Nobody near us to see us or hear us
No friends or relations

On weekend vacations
We won't have it known, dear
That we own a telephone, dear

Day will break and you'll awake
And start to bake a sugar cake
For me to take for all the boys to see
We will raise a family

A boy for you, a girl for me
Oh, can't you see how happy we would be

Overall Meaning

The song "Tea for Two" by Lester Young and The Oscar Peterson Trio talks about two individuals being in a romantic space, with each other as their only companion. The song starts off with the person singing inviting their lover to sit on their knee while they have tea. There is only the two of them and no one else around. The lyrics go on to suggest that they do not want anyone to know about their relationship, even to the extent of not owning a phone, as they do not want anyone to interfere with their privacy. Their love and emotions are only for each other. They start baking sugar cake, and imagine starting a family, with a boy for the person singing and a girl for their lover.

Line by Line Meaning

Picture you upon my knee
Imagine you sitting on my lap.

Just tea for two
Only tea for the two of us.

And two for tea
We only need two cups for the tea.

Just me for you
I am here for you alone.

And you for me alone
You are also here for me alone.

Nobody near us to see us or hear us
There is nobody around to watch or listen to us.

No friends or relations
We are free from any friend or relative intervention.

On weekend vacations
We will take vacations on weekends.

We won't have it known, dear
We don't want anyone to know, darling.

That we own a telephone, dear
We don't want anyone to know that we have a telephone, dear.

Day will break and you'll awake
The new day will come, and you will wake up.