The Remains of Tom Lehrer
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Public-domain lyrics

The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz

Tom Lehrer

An elegant ballroom memory unravels into a sequence of comic indignities.

The Remains of Tom Lehrer Disc 1 · Track 12 2000
Public domainSatireRomanceDancePlayfulTheatrical
Complete public-domain lyrics

The song decorates its clumsy romantic recollections with Viennese atmosphere and deliberately elaborate rhymes. This is the main three-stanza edition. The source also prints a London Tomfoolery substitution in a footnote; that alternate couplet is not silently mixed into the main text.

Verse 1

Do you remember the night

I held you so tight,

As we danced to the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz?

The music was gay, and the setting was Viennese,

Your hair wore some roses (or perhaps they were peonies),

I was blind to your obvious faults,

As we danced 'cross the scene

To the strains of the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz.

Verse 2

Oh, I drank some champagne from your shoe.

I was drunk by the time I got through.

For I didn't know as I raised that cup,

It had taken two bottles to fill the thing up.

It was I who stepped on your dress.

The skirts all came off, I confess.

Revealing for all of the others to see

Just what it was that endeared you to me.

Verse 3

I remember the night

I held you so tight,

As we danced to the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz.

Your lips were like wine (if you'll pardon the simile),

The music was lovely and quite Rudolf Frimly.

I drank wine, you drank chocolate malts,

And we both turned quite green

To the strains of the Wiener Schnitzel Waltz.

Credits

Written by Tom Lehrer

Words by Tom Lehrer, released into the public domain by the author. This is the author-published text edition, not a transcription of a particular performance.

Source & text edition

Author-published lyric sheet · original English words

Tom Lehrer's November 26, 2022 declaration relinquishes copyright in lyrics he wrote. It does not grant rights to third-party music, photographs or album artwork. This edition uses only his words.

Read the author’s lyric sheet (PDF)

View copyright evidence · Author’s public-domain declaration

Retrieved 2026-09-08. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.

Source edition: The Remains of Tom Lehrer · Compilation · 2000-05-23 · US

Release data: MusicBrainz · CC0-1.0 · Retrieved 2026-09-07.

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