A Picture Of Me Without You
1935
English
Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Jubilee
stage
1935
INTRODUCTION
Prince: Can’t find a cigarette.
Karen: They’re over there.
Prince: Can’t find my slippers.
Karen: They’re under the chair.
Prince: What time is it, darling.
Karen: Just two.
Prince: You know, it’s awful, my lamb,
I’m getting so damned dependent on you.
VERSE
From being merely
A necessary luxury
And someone sympathetic to have about,
Why, now you’re nearly
A luxurious necessity
I couldn’t imagine ever living without.
I suppose I could somehow struggle through,
But I’d hate to picture myself without you.
REFRAIN 1
Picture Henry Ford without a car,
Picture heaven’s firmament without a star,
Picture Fritzy Kreisler without a fiddle,
Picture poor Philadelphia without a Biddle,
Picture good cigars without Havana,
Picture Huey Long less Louisiana,
Mix ‘em all together, and what have you got?
Just a picture of me without you.
REFRAIN 2
Picture H. G. Wells without a brain,
Picture Av’rell Harriman without a train,
Picture Tintern Abbey without a cloister,
Picture Billy the Oysterman without an oyster,
Picture Central Park without a sailor,
Picture Mister Lord minus Mister Taylor,
Mix ‘em all together, and what have you got?
Just a picture of me without you.
REFRAIN 3
Picture Ogden Nash without a rhyme,
Picture Mr. Bulova without the time,
Picture Staten Island without a ferry,
Picture little George Washington without a cherry,
Picture brother Cain without his Abel,
Picture Clifton Webb minus Mother Mabel,
Mix ‘em all together, and what have you got?
Just a picture of me without you.
REFRAIN 4
Picture Paul Revere without a horse,
Picture love in Hollywood without divorce,*
Picture Barbara Hutton without a nickel,
Picture poor Mister Heinz, my dear, without a pickle,
Picture City Hall without boondogglin’,
Picture Sunday tea minus Father Coughlin,
Mix ‘em all together, and what have you got?
Just a picture of me without you.
*Or:
Picture Noel Coward without a plot,
Picture Douglas Elliman without a lot.
REFRAIN 5
Picture Lily Pons without a throat,
Picture Harold Vanderbilt a boat,
Picture Billy Sunday without a sinner,
Picture dear Missus Corrigan without a dinner,
Picture Hamlet’s ghost without a darkness,
Picture Mother Yale minus Father Harkness,
Mix ‘em all together, and what have you got?
Just a picture of me without you.