Texty: Soundtrack Artists. I Love To Beat The Big Bass Drum.

Chorus 1:

I love to beat the big bass drum,
A-rum-te-tum-te-tum-de-dum.
I'd be as happy as they come,
If I could beat the big bass drum.
They tell me there are some who feel
A feeling for the glockenspiel;
I reckon that's all-right for some,
I love to beat the big bass drum.

Verse:

If it's in the music store
Or a drum and bugle corps;
Marching forward as to war,
I repeat, it's the sweetest sound!
Would I rather play the fife?
Wouldn't try to save my life?
Would I rather beat my wife?
No, not I!
I supply music by the pound.

Chorus 2:

If I could only make the grade,
I wouldn't care how much it weighed;
I wouldn't care if I got paid,
Or if I had to promenade
Around the town in some parade,
It might be ninety in the shade.
A-rum-te-tum-te-tum-de-dum,
I love to beat the big bass drum.
Some can spot a sonata
Or plot a cantata,
But I gotta beat the drum!

Interlude 1:

Picture me on key,
In big-time company,
Gee!


Trio:

Not the fella with the big baton,
Even though he really carries on;
Not the squeaky little piccolo
Nor the trombones as they blow ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho.
Holy mack'rel, see the cymbals fly,
Pretty soon I should be passin' by;
What, they had me hidden?
That was me, no kiddin'!
Holdin' up the big bass drum...

Interlude 2:

There's a part
When they start
Playin' a martial air;
When the brass
Shows real class,
Blowin' a bright fanfare.
For a moment all is quiet,
Then the rhythm starts a riot;

Chorus 3:

Almost like a New Years' night
Or when a fella picks a fight;
Or like a homer in the stands,
It makes you wanna clap your hands.
It makes you wanna tap your feet
And that's the reason I repeat:
A-rum-te-tum-te-tum-de-dum,
I love to beat the big bass drum!
Some musicians are cuter
At tootin' a tooter,
But I love a big bass drum!