Friday, March 13, 2009

Friday the 13th

I was born on a Friday the 13th (November, MCMLIX), and I have an irrational fondness for the number thirteen and for Fridays. It was great when Omar wore number 13--watching him play the field was one of those special things that I know all of us appreciated. The new no. 13 is Brian Bocock (see story), who is a longshot to make the team, or even get another call-up (Lefty Malo has a nice piece about his chances). I was thinking that all of our youngsters, no matter how hard they work, still need a little good luck to make it. Friday the 13th is supposed to be a bad luck day, but we thirteeners never bought any of that crap. So here's something we all know (from Lerner and Loewe) for our youthful job-seekers:


He doesn't have a tuppence in his pocket.
The poorest bloke you'll ever hope to meet.
He doesn't have a tuppence in his pocket-
but With a little bit of luck, With a little bit of luck,
He'll be movin' up to easy street.

With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of luck, He's movin' up.
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of bloomin luck!


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great post. I love that song. No wonder I like this blog so much!

Anonymous said...

THESE ARE SUCH GREAT LYRICS --

The Lord above gave man an arm of iron
So he could do his job and never shirk.
The Lord gave man an arm of iron-but
With a little bit of luck, With a little bit of luck,
Someone else'll do the blinkin' work!
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of luck you'll never work!

The Lord above made liquor for temptation,
To see if man could turn away from sin.
The Lord above made liquor for temptation-but
With a little bit of luck, With a little bit of luck,
When temptation comes you'll give right in!
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of luck you'll give right in.

Oh, you can walk the straight and narrow;
But with a little bit of luck You'll run amuck!

The gentle sex was made for man to marry,
To share his nest and see his food is cooked.
The gentle sex was made for man to marry-but
With a little bit of luck, With a little bit of luck,
You can have it all and not get hooked.
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of luck you won't get hooked.
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of bloomin' luck!

The Lord above made man to help is neighbor,
No matter where, on land, or sea, or foam.
The Lord above made man to help his neighbor-but
With a little bit of luck, With a little bit of luck,
When he comes around you won't be home!
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of luck, You won't be home.

They're always throwin' goodness at you;
But with a little bit of luck A man can duck!

Oh, it's a crime for man to go philandrin
And fill his wife's poor heart with grief and doubt.
Oh, it's a crime for man to go philanderin'-but
With a little bit of luck, With a little bit of luck,
You can see the bloodhound don't find out!
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of luck she won't find out!
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of bloomin' luck!

He doesn't have a tuppence in his pocket.
The poorest bloke you'll ever hope to meet.
He doesn't have a tuppence in his pocket-but
With a little bit of luck, With a little bit of luck,
He'll be movin' up to easy street.
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of luck, He's movin' up.
With a little bit...with a little bit...
With a little bit of bloomin luck!

JC Parsons said...

Good topic and great response. This post made my brain humm (baby) on 2 levels.
#1 The song. Thanks for the lyrics (and THANK YOU for your great blog Big D, I never miss it!). My brain keeps pulling up Dick Van Dyke doing this cool dance...is that right?

#2 The baseball (we do talk about that occasionally). The role of sheer luck in baseball can not be underestimated. Especially in terms of getting to the show. Doing great things has to happen at the right time and in front of the right people. Sometimes the media stumbles on to certain "lucky" players. Other players can change the landscape in a heartbeat. Of course, injuries almost always involve chance. You could spend alot of time worrying about these topics...but I guess we all already know that.

JC Parsons said...

New brain flash! Rex Harrison!! Not DVD, that would be Mary Poppins!

But I'm still not sure...I know its My Fair Lady tho.

Brother Bob said...

The character who sang this song was named Alfred P. Doolittle, and in the 1964 film version of "My Fair Lady" he was performed by Stanley Holloway. You're thinking of the other singing and dancing cockney, Bert the chimneysweep from "Mary Poppins."

M.C. O'Connor said...

Good thing Bob's the OLDER brother, as he can actually remember 1964!

Just the other day my lovely bride was playing the Original Broadway Cast recording (Columbia OL-5090, 1956) with Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews, and Stanley Holloway.

The song was running through my head yesterday morning when I sat at the keyboard.