Irving Berlin - Metropolitan Opening Lyrics

Who are we
And what are we doing here?
Wait and see
We're going to make it clear
We're the new millionaires who will sit in the chairs
That were once occupied by the old millionaires
Where are they
The people who had the cash?
They can't pay
They lost it all in the crash
Their sables and their foxes have all been put in pawn
So we bought up their boxes for the opera must go on
And instead of Mister Belmont, Mister Gould, and Mister Kahn
There's Mister Reuben, a Cuban who runs a delicatessen store
The man which a sandwich made famous
And there is Mister Klein, you've seen the sign on Union Square
The women's wear he sells made him a millionaire
And a first-night patron of the opera
The most expensive box was bought by William Fox
A fella named Nat Lewis who deals in ties and socks
Will occupy the chair a Vanderbilt sat upon
He'll be there to help them all carry on
Those gentlemen who force you to buy their Scotch and rye
Are in the diamond horse-shoe, would you like to know just why?
It seems a large delegation couldn't get a donation from Otto Kahn
And so the racket said we will back it
They came across because the opera must go on