Carrying The Banner
Newsies Lyrics

Hey
Hey

That's my cigar
That is mine, give it back

You'll steal another
You will get another one

Hey, look, it's bath time at the zoo
Look over there, the animals are getting cleaned

I thought that I'd surprise my mother
I wanted to pleasantly catch my mother off guard

If you can find her
If you know where she is

Who asked you?
I did not ask for your opinion

From Bottle Alley to the Harbor
From this street to the other side of the waterfront

There's easy pickings guaranteed
Plenty of things can be taken without much difficulty

Try any banker, bum, or barber
You can attempt to steal from those with a bank account, homeless people, or even a hairdresser

They almost all knows how to read
Most of them can read

It's a crooked game we're playin'
We are participating in an unfair activity

One we'll never lose
We will always win at it

Long as suckers don't mind payin'
As long as people who are easy to trick do not object to paying

Just to get bad news
To receive information that is not good

Ain't it a fine life
Isn't it a good existence

Carrying the banner through it all
Carrying the newspaper proudly all the time

A mighty fine life
A really great life at the moment

Carrying the banner tough and tall
Holding the newspaper with strength and height

When the bell rings
When the signal sounds

We goes where we wishes
We go wherever we want

We's as free as fishes
We are as liberated as fish

Sure beats washing dishes
Certainly more interesting than cleaning plates

What a fine life
What a wonderful existence

Carrying the banner home-free all
Holding the newspaper and going home without paying for it

Hey, Crutchie, what's your leg say, gonna rain?
Hey, Crutchie, what does your leg feel when rain is coming?

Uh, no rain
No, it is not going to rain

Ho ho, partly cloudy clear by evenin'
Laughing sound, it will be partly overcast and then completely clear at night

Ha and the limp sells fifty papes a week, all by itself
Laughing sound, his limp helps him sell fifty newspapers per week without any effort

I don't need the limp to sell papes
I do not require my limp to sell newspapers

I got personality
I possess a charismatic character

It takes a smile that spreads like butter
A smile that expands quickly and effortlessly is necessary

The kind that turns a lady's head
The sort of smile that catches a girl's attention

It takes an orphan with a stutter
It requires an orphan who stammers

Who's also blind
Who is incapable of seeing

And mute
And cannot speak

And dead
And deceased

Summer stinks and winters freezing
Summer is unpleasant, and winter is bitterly cold

When you works outdoors
When you work outside

Start out sweatin'
Begin sweating from the outset

End up sneezin'
Finish with a cold or sneeze

In between it pours
During, it rains heavily

Still it's a fine life
Despite everything, it is a great life

Carrying the banner with me chums (so it's a fine life)
Together with my friends, so it is still a wonderful life

(Carrying the banner with me chums) a bunch of big shots
(Carrying the newspaper with my friends) a group of important folks

Tossin' out a freebie to the bums (a bunch of big shots, tossin' out a freebie)
Throwing a free newspaper to the homeless people (a group of important folks, giving something for free)

Hey hat's the hold up?
What is the reason for the delay?

Waiting makes me antsy
Lingering increases my anxiety

I likes livin' chancey
I prefer to live dangerously

Harlem to Delancey
From Harlem to Delancey

Carrying the banner through the
Holding the newspaper throughout the

Blessed children
You are blessed children

Though you wander lost and depraved
Even though you feel disoriented and morally corrupted

Jesus loves you
Jesus loves you

You shall be saved
You will be redeemed

Curdled
The liquid has spoiled

(just give me half a cup
(Just pour me ten fluid ounces)

Coffee (somethin' to wake me up)
A coffee (to help me stay alert)

Concrete donuts
Circular concrete barriers

(I gotta find an angle)
(I need to figure out a perspective)

Sprinkled with mold
Covered with mildew

(it's gettin bad out there)
(The situation is getting worse)

Homemade (papers is all I got)
Self-made (newspapers are all I possess)

It's eighty-eight degrees
The temperature is eighty-eight degrees

Biscuits (Jake says to change my spot)
Cookies (Jake advises me to move to a different location)

Wish I could catch a breeze
I desire to encounter a gust of wind

Just two years old
Only two years old

(maybe it's worth a shot)
(Perhaps it is worth an attempt)

All I can catch is fleas
The only thing I can attract is fleas

If I hate the headline
If I dislike the headline

I'll make up a headline
I will create a new headline

And I'll say anything I have'ta
And I will say anything that needs to be said

'Cause at two for a penny if I take too many
Because if I take too many (two issues for a cent),

Weasel just makes me eat 'em afta'
Weasel will force me to consume them afterward

Got a feelin' 'bout the headline
I have an intuition about the headline

I smells me a headline (I do too, so it must be true)
I can sense that it will be a catchy headline (I agree, so it is probably a fact)

Papes are gonna sell like we was givin' them away
Newspapers will be sold as if we were giving them away

Betcha dinner it's a doozy (what a switch, soon we'll all be rich)
I bet you dinner that it will be a fascinating story (what a change, soon we will all be wealthy)

'Bout a pistol-packin' floozy
About a woman who carries a loaded gun

Who knows how to make a Newsie's day (don't know any better way to make a newsie's day)
Who knows how to make a newspaper seller happy (I don't know any other way to make a newspaper seller content)

You wanna move the next edition
You desire to increase the following version's copies sold

Give us an earthquake or a war
Provide us with an earthquake or a war

How 'bout a crooked politician?
What if you feature a corrupt politician?

Yeah, nitwit, that ain't news no more
Yes, foolish person, that is no longer new

Uptown to Grand Central Station
From a neighborhood to Grand Central Station

Down to City Hall
Going down to City Hall

We improves our circulation
Our sales increase

Walking 'til we fall
Walking until we are utterly exhausted

Here's the headline
This is happening soon

Newsies on a mission
Newspaper sellers with a purpose

Kill the competition
Defeat the other newspaper sellers

Sell the next edition
Sell the following version

See us out there
Watch us outside

Always out there
We are always outside