VERSE
Up the river there's a college
Which authorities acknowledge
Is a cozy sort of place to go and dwell.
And with joy each student chortles
As he passes through its portals
And the faculty conduct him to his cell.
How I wish that there I'd waited,
Wish I'd never graduated,
For the memory of those days still stirs me so.
And the birdies every Spring sing,
Aren't you coming back to Sing Sing
Where you used to be so happy long ago?
REFRAIN 1
When it's tulip time in Sing Sing,
Oh it's there that I would be.
There are gentle hearts in Sing Sing,
Watching and yearning for me.
Oh I wish I was back with a rock or two to crack
With my pals of the class of " ninety-nine. "
How I miss the peace and quiet
And the simple wholesome diet
Of that dear old-fashioned prison of mine!
VERSE 2
Oh I'd give a lot to go there,
Life was never dull or slow there,
Every night there was a concert or a hop.
Or I'd sit discussing Coue
With my old pal bat-eared Louie,
Quite the nicest man that ever slugged a cop.
We were just a band of brothers,
Each as good as all the others
As the humblest sort of sneak thief you might rank,
But when you'd been there a week, well,
We were treated as an equal
By the high and mighty swells who'd robbed a bank.
REFRAIN 2
When it's tulip time in Sing Sing,
Oh it's there that I would be.
There are gentle hearts in Sing Sing,
Watching and yearning for me.
Oh, there's no place like home,
And I'm tired of having to roam
Through the world with its women and its wine.
So just bob my hair and shove me
Where I know the warders love me,
In that dear old-fashioned prison of mine!
Up the river there's a college
Which authorities acknowledge
Is a cozy sort of place to go and dwell.
And with joy each student chortles
As he passes through its portals
And the faculty conduct him to his cell.
How I wish that there I'd waited,
Wish I'd never graduated,
For the memory of those days still stirs me so.
And the birdies every Spring sing,
Aren't you coming back to Sing Sing
Where you used to be so happy long ago?
REFRAIN 1
When it's tulip time in Sing Sing,
Oh it's there that I would be.
There are gentle hearts in Sing Sing,
Watching and yearning for me.
Oh I wish I was back with a rock or two to crack
With my pals of the class of " ninety-nine. "
How I miss the peace and quiet
And the simple wholesome diet
Of that dear old-fashioned prison of mine!
VERSE 2
Oh I'd give a lot to go there,
Life was never dull or slow there,
Every night there was a concert or a hop.
Or I'd sit discussing Coue
With my old pal bat-eared Louie,
Quite the nicest man that ever slugged a cop.
We were just a band of brothers,
Each as good as all the others
As the humblest sort of sneak thief you might rank,
But when you'd been there a week, well,
We were treated as an equal
By the high and mighty swells who'd robbed a bank.
REFRAIN 2
When it's tulip time in Sing Sing,
Oh it's there that I would be.
There are gentle hearts in Sing Sing,
Watching and yearning for me.
Oh, there's no place like home,
And I'm tired of having to roam
Through the world with its women and its wine.
So just bob my hair and shove me
Where I know the warders love me,
In that dear old-fashioned prison of mine!