Last Yip Harburg Lyric of the Day

This is the 25th anniversary of the death of E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, my favourite song lyricist. Here is one of my favourite of his lyrics, "The World is Your Balloon" from his flop musical Flahooley (1951). It has all the Harburg touches: a whimsical tone combined with concrete, specific imagery of things and actions; a happy-go-lucky theme combined with a wistful acceptance of the transience of life.

In the show, it was sung by -- and this will give you an idea of the kind of show it was -- a bunch of puppets (the Bil Baird Marionettes). The cast of characters also included the young Barbara Cook, Irwin Corey as a magical genie, and Yma Sumac.

Love, love, when you're in love,
The world is your balloon.
Rain is confetti rain,
The moon's a lantern moon.
Glow-worms are footlights in the clover,
For they know
Life's a bang-up show;
Why should it irk us?
Ain't it a circus?
Yours is the gate that swings
To clowns and tinkerbells;
Yours is the hope on wings,
The heart on carousels.
Yours is the earth to play with
On a summer afternoon,
For when girl loves boy
The world is a toy balloon.

Pretty little world with valley and stream
Floating in rainbow weather.
Something for a girl and boy with a dream,
Something to share together.
Lucky are they who never lose the string
To youth and spring.

Yours is the gate that swings
To clowns and tinkerbells;
Yours is the hope on wings,
The heart on carousels.
Yours is the earth to play with
On a summer afternoon,
For when girl loves boy
The world is a toy balloon.