Lorelei, Lorelei Call to sailors drifting by Who-o-o-o, who-o-o, come hither While they're sailing a voice is wailing a beckoning tune No use praying they'll all be paying a reckoning soon under the moon Lorelei, Lorelei Still the voices fade and die Smiling with glee, into the sea they slither Down in the depths profound Where pa**ionate joys are drowned There lie the lovers wooed by the Loreli All that is past, and now at last everything's altered and changed-about Progress goes on, glamour has gone from where the schooners once ranged-about Speed and power, hour by hour liners tower high
Onward churning, never turning for a yearning cry Coal dust to grime No one has time For any simple romance at all Beckoned and coo Till they are blue Mermaids have got no damned chance at all Lorelei, Lorelei, sit around and weep and cry Days are too long, everything's wrong completely All the sirens in these environs are sorry they spoke Coaling steamers are belching streamers of horrible smoke making them choke Lorelei, Lorelei sadly sigh and wonder why Every new ship gives them the slip so easily What could be more obscene Than vamping a sad marine It is a languid let alone Lorelei