In the Alley
(1894)- Music by Charles Ives
- Text by Charles Ives
Ives has subtitled this song "After a session at Polis, Not sung by Caruso, Jenny Lind, John McCormack, Harry Lauder, George Chappell or the Village Nightingale."
Ives also notes at the end of the song: "This song (and the same may be said of others) is inserted for association's sake...on the ground that will excuse anything; also, to help clear up a long disputed point, namely: -- which is worse? the music or the words?"
--Christie Finn
In the Alley
by Charles Ives
On my way to work one summer day,
Just off the main highway,
Through a window in an alley
smiled a lass, her name was Sally,
O could it be!
O could it be she smiled on me!
All that day, before my eyes,
amidst the busy whirl,
came the image of that lovely Irish girl,
And hopes would seem to rise,
as the clouds rise in the skies,
When I thought of her and those beaming eyes.
So that evening, dressed up smart and neat,
I wandered down her street,
At the corner of the alley
was another man with Sally,
and my eyes grew dim,
She smiles on him, only on him!
