Ain’t We Got Fun – On the Rocks

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE AND HEAR THIS SONG PERFORMED, OR THE JUKEBOX FOR THE ENTIRE LIBRARY.

by Egan and Kahn – Key of A

Ain’t We Got Fun is a popular foxtrot published in 1921 with music by Richard A. Whiting, lyrics by Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn. This became a big hit for Bing Crosby.

It was first performed in 1920 in the Fanchon and Marco revue Satires of 1920, then moved into vaudeville and recordings. The song and its jaunty response to poverty and its promise of fun (“Every morning / Every evening,” and “In the meantime, / In between time”) have become symbolic of the Roaring Twenties, and it appears in some of the major literature of the decade, including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and in Dorothy Parker’s award-winning short story of 1929, Big Blonde. The song also contains variations on the phrase “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer” (substituting, e.g., “children” for “poorer”); though this phrase predates the song, its use increased with the song’s popularity.

[C] Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening - [Dm] Ain't we got [G] fun? - - - [G7] Not much money, oh but honey - [C] Ain't we got [C7] fun?
[F] The rent's unpaid dear - [C] And we haven't a bus - - - [Em] But smiles were made dear - [B7] For people like us

[C] In the Winter in the Summer - [Dm] Don't we have [G] fun - - - [G7] Times are bum & getting bummer [C] still we have [C7] fun
[F] There's nothing [E7] surer:  - - - [Am] The rich get rich and the [Dm] poor get poorer   - - -   [C] In the meantime, [G7] in between time    [F] Ain't [G] we got [C] fun?  [G]

VIOLIN SOLO to first and second verse
[C] Ev'ry morning, ev'ry evening - [Dm] Ain't we got [G] fun? - - - [G7] Not much money, oh but honey - [C] Ain't we got [C7] fun?
[F] Our rent's unpaid dear - [C] We haven't a bus - - - [Em] But smiles were made dear - - - - [B7] For people like us

[C] Landlords mad & getting madder -  [Dm] Ain't we got [G] fun? - - - [G7] Times are bad & getting badder - [C] Still we have [C7] fun
[F] There's nothing   [E7]  surer:  - - -  [Am] The rich get rich and the [Dm] poor get laid off   - - -   [C] In the meantime, [G7] in between time -   [F] Ain't [G] we got [C] fun?  [C]