I'm a maker of ballads right pretty I write em right here in the street You can buy them all over the city Yours for a penny a sheet
I'm a word pecker out of the printers Out of the dens of Gin Lane I'll write up a scene on a counter Confessions and sins in the main Boys, confession and sins in the main
Then you'll find me in Madame Geneva's Keepin' the demons at bay There's nothin like gin for drownin' them in But they'll always be back on a hangin' day On a hangin' day
They come rattlin' over the cobbles They sit on their coffins of black Some are struck dumb, some gabble Top-heavy on brandy or sack
The pews are all full of fine fellows And the hawker has set up her shop As they're turnin' 'em off at the gallows She'll be sellin' right under the drop Boys, sellin' right under the drop
Then you'll find me in Madame Geneva's Keepin' the demons at bay There's nothin' like gin for drownin' them in But they'll always be back on a hangin' day On a hangin' day