WHERE DID ROBINSON CRUSOE GO WITH FRIDAY ON SATURDAY NIGHT

by Lewis, Young, & Meyer
as sung by Al Jolson 


Over a thousand years, or maybe more
Out on an island on a lonely shore
Robinson Crusoe landed one fine day
No rent to pay
No wife to obey.
His good man Friday was his only friend
He didn't borrow or lend.
They built a little hut
Lived there till Friday, but
Saturday night it was shut.

Where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday night?
Every Saturday night they would start in to roam
And on Sunday morning they'd come staggering home.
They went hunting for rabbits when the weather grew colder
But Crusoe came home with a hare on his shoulder.
Now, where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday night?

Robinson Crusoe was a good old scout.
Robinson Crusoe knew his way about.
He'd go out hunting chickens now and then
But he knew when
He was chasing a hen.
Once he told Friday, "You must stay at home
I've got to go out alone".
Friday felt very blue
He said, "It's wrong of you
Couldn't you fix it for two?"

Where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday night?
One fine Saturday night they had nothing to do
So they started counting all the girlies they knew.
Friday counted to thirteen, and Crusoe said, "Brother,
You know, thirteen's unlucky. Let's go get another."
So, where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday night?

Where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday night?
Every Saturday night they would start in to roam
And on Sunday morning they'd come staggering home.
On this island lived wild men and cannibal crimmin
And you know where there are wild men, there must be wild women.
So, where did Robinson Crusoe go with Friday on Saturday night?
Notes: This song is of course one of the numerous adaptations of Daniel Defoe's important and influential (if rather plodding) 1719 novel which originally bore the title "The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates. Written by Himself.", which in turn was inspired by (but not based in detail on) the real life adventures of one Alexander Selkirk or Selcraig (1676-1721), a Scotch sailor who was stranded on one of the Juan Fernandez islands off the coast of what is now Chile for more than four years. It can be seen that the first line of this song is another example of unconciounably sloppy chronological research among novelty song writers. As a distant relative of Mr. Defoe's, I feel it behooves me to state that although the modern reader may find "Robinson Crusoe" long winded and slow in parts, the same reader may find "A Journal of the Plague Year" a ripping good read.

Copyright note

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