The man who made his name in the moving picture show Was the man whose face we saw, but his voice we didn't know The only things we heard him say were on cards we read too slow The man who made them speak was Ragtime Piano Joe
It was the only life that he knew Ragtime Piano Joe It was the only thing he could do Ragtime Piano Joe And when the hero walked in the door Or Charlie Chaplin fell through the floor Who was it made the show Ragtime Piano Joe
Al Jolson mooned and crooned and talking pictures came to town Hoagy Carmichael played a tune, it really brought Joe down And Busby Berkeley clinched the deal and all the flicks had sound Joe took his life one night, they say that he was drowned
It was the only life that he knew Ragtime Piano Joe It was the only thing he could do Ragtime Piano Joe And when the hero walked in the door Or Charlie Chaplin fell through the floor Who was it made the show Ragtime Piano Joe
And when the hero walked in the door Or Charlie Chaplin fell through the floor Who was it, who was it Ragtime Piano Joe
If late at night into the movie house you go Sit at the back, stay out of sight, you can still hear Ragtime Joe When the crowds have gone The old time songs, the ones we used to know Can still be heard, but very faint It's the ghost of poor old Joe
It was the only life that he knew Ragtime Piano Joe It was the only thing he could do Ragtime Piano Joe And when the hero walked in the door Or Charlie Chaplin fell through the floor Who was it made the show Ragtime Piano Joe
It was the only life that he knew Ragtime Piano Joe It was the only thing he could do Ragtime Piano Joe And when the hero walked in the door Or Charlie Chaplin fell through the floor Who was it, who was it Ragtime Piano Joe