Oh! What a Fool!
This never-recorded song is one of Leon's comedy numbers, running through a series of situations in which his overtures to a love object result in misfortune and failure. Ultimately, he plans to settle the matter by killing her, only to find she is dead by the time he gets there, merely compounding his embarrassment. The lyric is derived from Brassens, whose "Marinette" provided a close model. Some of Brassens' lines are given below:
When I rushed to sing my little song for Marinette
The beauty, the betrayer, was off to the opera
with my little song I looked like a fool, mother Mary
with my little song I looked like a fool
When I gave Marionette a bicycle for a present
The beauty, the betrayer had bought a car
With my little bike I looked like a fool, mother Mary
With my little bike I looked like a fool
When I rushed to sing my little song for Marinette
The beauty, the betrayer, was off to the opera
with my little song I looked like a fool, mother Mary
with my little song I looked like a fool
When I gave Marionette a bicycle for a present
The beauty, the betrayer had bought a car
With my little bike I looked like a fool, mother Mary
With my little bike I looked like a fool
"Some songs, though, I found to be so insubstantial as to be hardly worth the effort. I made an English version of one such song, 'Marinette,' rendering 'j'avais l'air d'un con' into the more decorous 'oh what a fool.' It was not a success." - LR (Where Are The Elephants?, 2023)
Sheet music
- Look Here p44