All At Once
Lyrics By Lorenz Hart Music By Richard Rodgers
Part of Rodgers & Hart’s original 1937 score to Babes in Arms, this flirtatious duet about growing up was introduced by Mitzi Green and Ray Heatherton. In the song, Val and Billie look back on the highlights of their lives, playfully remarking that their falling in love was inevitable.
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"All At Once" Lyrics
You’re the most beautiful baby
In your mother’s eyes and mine,
And every other mother’s child is too divine.
You’re very sensible, baby,
But you’ve got a lot to learn.
I appoint myself your teacher
And I must be stern.
All at once
Baby starts in toddling,
And all at once
Baby needs no coddling.
Then soon
Knows all the names
Of toys and games,
Discovers duty,
Beauty.
All at once,
Baby needs affection
To fall at once
In the right direction.
If baby’s wise,
Baby’s eyes
Should be able to see
All at once
Baby’s going to love me!
All the world’s a nursery.
We grow no older through the seven ages.
We keep our bottles and our bogeymen,
And little babies are as wise as sages.
When I was three, I was a siren,
And knew the old trick
Of vamping my dad for a peppermint stick.
At five I was a gangster.
I’d loot the pantry,
And give the cream pie a lick.
I was a comedian.
At six I had a little knack or two.
I used to practice on my teacher dear,
And make her sit upon a tack at two.
Now that we’ve met, we forget our old age.
We’re kids again in the nursery stage.
All at once
Baby starts in toddling,
And all at once
Baby needs no coddling.
Then soon
Knows all the names
Of toys and games,
Discovers duty,
Beauty.
All at once,
Baby needs affection
To fall at once
In the right direction.
If baby’s wise,
Baby’s eyes
Should be able to see
All at once
Baby’s going to love me!
"All At Once" by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart
©1937 by Chappell & Co., Inc. Copyright Renewed.
Copyright Assigned to Williamson Music and WB Music Corp. for the extended renewal period of copyright in the USA.
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.