Music Mondays: My Word, You Do Look Queer, Performed by Ernest Hastings

March 28
"My Word, You Do Look Queer," Written by Bert Lee and R.P. Weston, performed by Ernest Hastings

I chose this piece for the last Music Monday of March (and 1922 number one songs) because I found it so interesting. This is a comedic monologue, set to music. I had no idea that pieces like this were popular, though it certainly makes sense. It’s not like people only started enjoying comedians recently. I suppose it was just interesting to me to see a piece like this on the top 100 list for 1922. I remember during the 1990s a couple of monologue style pieces that became quite popular and were played on the radio. There was a Jeff Foxworthy one that I don’t remember too well, and then there was the famous (infamous?) piece, “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen),” by Baz Luhrmann that came out in 1999. That piece was played ALL THE TIME, and as a member of the graduating class of 1999, it truly did feel like he was talking directly to us. I think many of us took all of the lyrics of that song to heart.

Anyway, this is a fun little piece about a man who has been ill and, having recovered, goes for a walk. But all the people he meets comment on how awful he looks (“My word, you do look queer!”), until he’s basically convinced that he truly is about to die. There is a happy ending, but I’ll let you listen and/or read the lyrics to discover it. The performer, Ernest Hastings, was an English singer, pianist, and composer, who was known for his comedic monologue performances. He toured in both England and Great Britain and became known as “England’s Greatest Entertainer at the Piano.” I guess I just sort of enjoy when something unexpected like this pops up in the top 100. Perhaps some of his other pieces for which he was popular between the 1910s and 1930s reached the top 100 in other years as well. At any rate, I did get a little chuckle out of this one, so give it a listen.

The piece:

Resources
About the piece: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Word,_You_Do_Look_Queer
About the performer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hastings
Lyrics: https://www.monologues.co.uk/Stanley-Holloway/You-Do-Look-Queer.htm