Strolling so happy down Bethnal Green
This gay youth you might have seen,
Tompkins and I, with his girl between,
Oh! what a surprise!
Praised the Conservatives frank and free,
Tompkins got angry so speedily,
All in a moment he handed to me
Two lovely black eyes.
Two lovely black eyes,
Oh, what a surprise!
Only for telling a man he was wrong.
Two lovely black eyes.
Next time, I argued I thought it best
To give the Conservative side a rest.
The merits of Gladstone I freely pressed,
When Oh! what a surprise!
The chap I had met was a Tory true,
Nothing the Liberals right could do,
This was my share of that argument too,
Two lovely black eyes!
Two lovely black eyes,
Oh, what a surprise!
Only for telling a man he was wrong.
Two lovely black eyes.
The moral you've caught I can hardly doubt,
Never on politics rave and shout,
Leave it to others to fight it out,
If you would be wise.
Better, far better, it is to let
Liberals and Tories alone, you bet,
Unless you're willing and anxious to get,
Two lovely black eyes!
Two lovely black eyes,
Oh, what a surprise!
Only for telling a man he was wrong.
Two lovely black eyes.