Hello! Ma Baby
Lyrics and Music by Ida Emerson and Joseph E. Howard (1899)
I've got a little baby, but she's out of sight,
I talk to her across the telephone;
I've never seen ma honey, but she's mine, all right;
So take my tip, and leave this gal alone !
Ev'ry single morning, you will hear me yell,
"Hey Central ! fix me up along the line."
He connects me with ma honey
Then I ring the bell,
And this is what I say to Baby Mine:
"Hello ! ma Baby,
Hello ! ma honey,
Hello ! ma ragtime gal,
Send me a kiss by wire,
Baby, my heart's on fire !
If you refuse me,
Honey, you'll lose me,
Then you'll be left alone;
Oh baby, telephone
And tell me I'm your own,
Hello ! hello ! hello ! there ! "
(repeat chorus)
This morning, through the phone,
She said her name was Bess.
And now I kind of know where I am at;
I'm satisfied because I've got my babe's address,
Here, pasted in the lining of my hat.
I am mighty scared,
'Cause if the wires get crossed,
'Twill separate me from ma baby mine,
Then some other guy will win her,
And my game is lost,
And so each day I shout along the line:
"Hello ! ma Baby,
Hello ! ma honey,
Hello ! ma ragtime gal,
Send me a kiss by wire,
Baby, my heart's on fire !
If you refuse me,
Honey, you'll lose me,
Then you'll be left alone;
Oh baby, telephone
And tell me I'm your own,
Hello ! hello ! hello ! there ! "
