[Verse 1: Klezmer male lead, fast and punchy over pounding drums and a wailing clarinet riff] Oy, I fell off the garage roof the summer I was nine Broke my wrist, broke the gutter, broke my Uncle Herschel's sign Ever since, a stepladder's a mountain, and a balcony's a cliff I take the stairs in parkin' garages, I won't ride a ski lift So tonight I'm at my wedding, and the band is gettin' hot And the clarinet is wailin', and the cousins in a knot And I see the boys come for me with that look upon their face With a folding chair, mazel tov, and I'm runnin' out of space Four best friends since second grade, the same four who put me down Every joke I ever heard, they told it first all over town [Hook: Klezmer male lead, full band, clarinet wailin' over the drums, the whole hall clappin'] All my life you put me down, tonight you hold me high Four friends and a folding chair, and the ceiling in my eye Hey, hey, higher, hey, the whole room's goin' round Whatever you do tonight, my friends, don't put me down [Verse 2: Klezmer male lead, faster, clarinet trills in the gaps] First they lift me to the knees, and I'm grabbin' at the seat Then they lift me to the shoulders, and I cannot feel my feet I'm yellin' "put me down, put me down," and they're laughin' in my ear Sammy says "you're fine," and Sammy's had a lot of beer My Dana tosses me the corner of a napkin through the noise And we're holdin' it between us, bride and groom up on the boys [Bridge: Klezmer male lead, chair lift, the clarinet leaps up high, every drum hits at once, and the hall roars] And somethin' happens up there, oy, the noise goes far away I can see my whole life from the ceiling, every table, every tray Uncle Herschel's dancin' with the rabbi, and the caterer's in tears And I'm higher than that roof, and it's the quietest in years [Hook: Klezmer male lead, full band, clarinet wailin' over the drums, the whole hall clappin'] All my life you put me down, tonight you hold me high Four friends and a folding chair, and the ceiling in my eye Hey, hey, higher, hey, the whole room's goin' round Whatever you do tonight, my friends, don't put me down [Verse 3: Klezmer male lead, full band, clarinet and handclaps, faster every line] Now the song is windin' down, and the boys are lowerin' slow And I grab the chair with both my hands and holler "no, no, no!" Twenty years you put me down with every joke you had Now you're gonna hold me up all night, and boys, I'm glad Band, play another, play it faster, play it loud enough to drown Every fear I ever had, mazel tov, the kid who fell ain't comin' down [Final Hook: Klezmer male lead, full band, clarinet wailin' over the drums, the whole hall clappin'] All my life you put me down, tonight you hold me high Four friends and a folding chair, and the ceiling in my eye Hey, hey, higher, hey, the whole room's goin' round Whatever you do tonight, my friends, don't put me down [End]
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