If you can’t hold the man you love-Ethel Waters:1926

If You Can't Hold the Man You Love
"My sermon for the Sabbath Day,"
Said Parson Johnson Brown
"Is going to of interest to every gal in town;
Mandy Lee has done told me
Her man is gone away
That will be the subject
Which I'll preach about today."
If you can't hold the man you love
Don't cry when he's gone;
If you can't keep a good man down
Don't you carry on!
First I want you gals to know
A little fact I've known
It takes more than a radio
To keep a man at home!
And some night when you're alone
Waitin' for the dawn
Listen, sisters, listen while I warn, doggone:
You can't mail a letter if it isn't stamped
You can't reform a man, but he can be revamped!
If you can't hold the man you love
Don't cry when he's gone!
You can't hold a bird unless you feed him seeds
You can't hold a dog without the bones he needs
If a monkey don't get peanuts, why, you'll find him gone;
You can't hold a chicken 'less you feed him corn;
You can't hold a seal unless you feed him fish
You even got to grant a baby's slightest wish
And just as sure as there's a lord above
You can't hold a man unless you give him love!
If you can't hold the man you love
Don't cry when he's gone;
If you can't keep a good man down
Don't you carry on!
The secret, ladies, is to know
Just what your man desires
Learn to cultivate the tastes
His appetite requires
And some night when you're alone
Waitin' for the dawn
Listen, sisters, listen while I warn, doggone:
You better get wise, realize the truth!
Keep your home fires burnin' for your flame in you
If you can't hold the man you love
Don't cry when he's gone!
I'm preachin'
Don't cry when he's gone!