"She Was Poor but She Was Honest", sometimes known as "(It's the Same) the Whole World Over" or (more rarely) by other names, is a traditional seriocomic song or monologue. It is Roud Folk Song Index number 9621.[1] The consensus is that it originated in the late 19th century English music hall tradition. It was sung by British soldiers during World War I, and also by RAF airmen during World War II.[1][2][3][4] It has crossed the Atlantic to North America.[2][5] It has also become a British rugby song.[1]
A wealthy older man seduces a young and pretty country girl. Out of shame, she flees to London, becomes a prostitute, and eventually drowns herself in the river; whereas he remains an accepted member of high society. The details vary, and the words have varying degrees of bawdiness.[3][6][7] The man may be a rich man, a squire, a Member of Parliament, or an army officer. He may or may not get her pregnant. She may be a common or a high-class prostitute; but in Billy Bennett's recorded version, she sells bootlaces on the street instead; and in Derek Lamb's, matches. The refrain points the moral:
It's the same the whole world over, It's the poor what gets the blame, It's the rich what gets the pleasure, Isn't it a blooming shame?
The song has been recorded but few times. In 1930, English comedian Billy Bennett made a 10" single, Columbia DB 164, with the words credited to Bert Lee and R. P. Weston and the music to Lee.[8][9] In 1962, Derek Lamb, best known as a British animation filmmaker and producer, included it on an album itself called She Was Poor but She Was Honest.[10] It has also appeared in recorded compilations of rugby songs.
^Pippert, Wesley G. (5 March 1981). "'It's the same the whole world over, 'It's the poor that gets the blame, 'It's the rich which gets the gravy; 'Isn't that a blipping shame?'". UPI. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^Anonymous. "She Was Poor but She Was Honest". PoetryNook. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^Traditional. "She Was Poor But She Was Honest". songfacts.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^"She Was Poor but She Was Honest". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^Bennett, Billy. "She Was Poor, But She Was Honest". 45worlds.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^Lamb, Derek (1962). "She Was Poor but She Was Honest: Nice, Naughty and Nourishing Songs of the London Music Hall and Pubs". Smithsonian Folkways. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^"The Whole World Over". IBDB. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
poor, honest, sometimes, known, same, whole, world, over, more, rarely, other, names, traditional, seriocomic, song, monologue, roud, folk, song, index, number, 9621, consensus, that, originated, late, 19th, century, english, music, hall, tradition, sung, brit. She Was Poor but She Was Honest sometimes known as It s the Same the Whole World Over or more rarely by other names is a traditional seriocomic song or monologue It is Roud Folk Song Index number 9621 1 The consensus is that it originated in the late 19th century English music hall tradition It was sung by British soldiers during World War I and also by RAF airmen during World War II 1 2 3 4 It has crossed the Atlantic to North America 2 5 It has also become a British rugby song 1 A wealthy older man seduces a young and pretty country girl Out of shame she flees to London becomes a prostitute and eventually drowns herself in the river whereas he remains an accepted member of high society The details vary and the words have varying degrees of bawdiness 3 6 7 The man may be a rich man a squire a Member of Parliament or an army officer He may or may not get her pregnant She may be a common or a high class prostitute but in Billy Bennett s recorded version she sells bootlaces on the street instead and in Derek Lamb s matches The refrain points the moral It s the same the whole world over It s the poor what gets the blame It s the rich what gets the pleasure Isn t it a blooming shame The song has been recorded but few times In 1930 English comedian Billy Bennett made a 10 single Columbia DB 164 with the words credited to Bert Lee and R P Weston and the music to Lee 8 9 In 1962 Derek Lamb best known as a British animation filmmaker and producer included it on an album itself called She Was Poor but She Was Honest 10 It has also appeared in recorded compilations of rugby songs The Whole World Over is also the English title of a 1947 play by Konstantin Simonov 11 and of a 2007 novel by Julia Glass 12 This song is completely different from The Same the Whole World Over by Irish singer songwriter Gilbert O Sullivan on his 2018 album Gilbert O Sullivan 13 Danish singer Per Dich published a version with similar lyrics in 1966 called Kapitalismen Dutch singer Leen Jongewaard published a version in 1967 called Het is de schuld van het kapitaal Capital is to Blame References edit a b c The Whole World Over Vaughan Williams Memorial Library a b Traditional She Was Poor But She Was Honest songfacts com Retrieved 18 June 2020 a b Anonymous She Was Poor but She Was Honest It s the Same the Whole World Over antiwarsongs org Retrieved 18 June 2020 Poverty Oxford Reference Retrieved 18 June 2020 Pippert Wesley G 5 March 1981 It s the same the whole world over It s the poor that gets the blame It s the rich which gets the gravy Isn t that a blipping shame UPI Retrieved 18 June 2020 Anonymous She Was Poor but She Was Honest PoetryNook Retrieved 18 June 2020 Traditional She Was Poor But She Was Honest songfacts com Retrieved 18 June 2020 She Was Poor but She Was Honest secondhandsongs com Retrieved 18 June 2020 Bennett Billy She Was Poor But She Was Honest 45worlds com Retrieved 18 June 2020 Lamb Derek 1962 She Was Poor but She Was Honest Nice Naughty and Nourishing Songs of the London Music Hall and Pubs Smithsonian Folkways Retrieved 18 June 2020 The Whole World Over IBDB Retrieved 18 June 2020 Glass Julia 2007 The Whole World Over ISBN 9781400075768 Retrieved 18 June 2020 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a website ignored help Gilbert O Sullivan 2018 Gilbert O Sullivan Discogs Retrieved 18 June 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title She Was Poor but She Was Honest amp oldid 1165313108, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
