[1st verse:]
The cowboys, the wrestlers, the tumblers, the clowns
The roustabouts that move the show at dawn
The music, the spotlight, the people, the towns
Your baggage with the labels pasted on
The sawdust and the horses and the smell
The towel you've taken from the last hotel
[1st refrain:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
Ev'rything about it is appealing
Ev'rything the traffic will allow
Nowhere could you have that happy feeling
When you are stealing that extra bow
There's no people like show people
They smile when they are low
Yesterday they told you you would not go far
That night you open and there you are
Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star
Let's go on with the show
[2nd verse:]
The costumes, the scenery, the make-up, the props
The audience that lifts you when you're down
The headaches, the heartaches, the backaches, the flops
The sheriff who escorts you out of town
The op'ning when your heart beats like a drum
The closing when the customers won't come
[2nd refrain:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
You get word before the show has started
That your fav'rite uncle died at dawn
'Top of that your ma and pa have parted
You're broken-hearted but you go on
There's no people like show people
They don't run out of dough
Angels come from everywhere with lots of jack
And when you lose it there's no attack
Where could you get money that you don't give back?
Let's go on with the show
[3rd refrain:]
There's no business like show business
If you tell me it's so
Trav'ling thro' the country will be thrilling
Standing out in front on opening nights
Smiling as you watch the benches filling
And see your billing out there in lights
There's no people like show people
They smile when they are low
Even with a turkey that you know will fold
You may be stranded out in the cold
Still you wouldn't 'change for a sack of gold
Let's go on with the show
Let's go on with the show
[Reprise:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
All made up and soon you'll be appearing
Ev'ry bit of nervousness is gone
Then the sound that's music to your hearing
To hear them cheering when you come on
There's no people like show people
They smile when they are low
How I wish the folks at home could only see
What's come to Annie, how proud they'd be
Gettin' paid for doin' what comes natur'lly
Let's go on with the show
[Alternate Verse:]
The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Are secretly unhappy men because
The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Get paid for what they do but no applause
They'd gladly bid their dreary jobs good-bye
For anything theatrical and why
[Alternate lines:]
How you worried using half the night up
Waiting 'til the morning papers came
What a moment when your face will light up
To see the write-up and see your name
Everything inside you starts to shake up
When your picture in the news appears
And the thrill each morning when you wake up
With daubs of make-up behind your ears
[Alternate version written for Mary Martin
When she played Dallas, Texas, in 1955:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
Playing Broadway at the famous Palace
Don't compare with this, it's simply grand.
Ask me how I feel to be in Dallas;
Like little Alice in Wonderland.
There's no people like show people,
They smile when they are low.
Who'd have thought when I was on my mother's knee
I'd be in Texas? But here I be
Gettin' paid for doin' what comes natur'lly:
Let's go on with the show.
The cowboys, the wrestlers, the tumblers, the clowns
The roustabouts that move the show at dawn
The music, the spotlight, the people, the towns
Your baggage with the labels pasted on
The sawdust and the horses and the smell
The towel you've taken from the last hotel
[1st refrain:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
Ev'rything about it is appealing
Ev'rything the traffic will allow
Nowhere could you have that happy feeling
When you are stealing that extra bow
There's no people like show people
They smile when they are low
Yesterday they told you you would not go far
That night you open and there you are
Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star
Let's go on with the show
[2nd verse:]
The costumes, the scenery, the make-up, the props
The audience that lifts you when you're down
The headaches, the heartaches, the backaches, the flops
The sheriff who escorts you out of town
The op'ning when your heart beats like a drum
The closing when the customers won't come
[2nd refrain:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
You get word before the show has started
That your fav'rite uncle died at dawn
'Top of that your ma and pa have parted
You're broken-hearted but you go on
There's no people like show people
They don't run out of dough
Angels come from everywhere with lots of jack
And when you lose it there's no attack
Where could you get money that you don't give back?
Let's go on with the show
[3rd refrain:]
There's no business like show business
If you tell me it's so
Trav'ling thro' the country will be thrilling
Standing out in front on opening nights
Smiling as you watch the benches filling
And see your billing out there in lights
There's no people like show people
They smile when they are low
Even with a turkey that you know will fold
You may be stranded out in the cold
Still you wouldn't 'change for a sack of gold
Let's go on with the show
Let's go on with the show
[Reprise:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
All made up and soon you'll be appearing
Ev'ry bit of nervousness is gone
Then the sound that's music to your hearing
To hear them cheering when you come on
There's no people like show people
They smile when they are low
How I wish the folks at home could only see
What's come to Annie, how proud they'd be
Gettin' paid for doin' what comes natur'lly
Let's go on with the show
[Alternate Verse:]
The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Are secretly unhappy men because
The butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clerk
Get paid for what they do but no applause
They'd gladly bid their dreary jobs good-bye
For anything theatrical and why
[Alternate lines:]
How you worried using half the night up
Waiting 'til the morning papers came
What a moment when your face will light up
To see the write-up and see your name
Everything inside you starts to shake up
When your picture in the news appears
And the thrill each morning when you wake up
With daubs of make-up behind your ears
[Alternate version written for Mary Martin
When she played Dallas, Texas, in 1955:]
There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
Playing Broadway at the famous Palace
Don't compare with this, it's simply grand.
Ask me how I feel to be in Dallas;
Like little Alice in Wonderland.
There's no people like show people,
They smile when they are low.
Who'd have thought when I was on my mother's knee
I'd be in Texas? But here I be
Gettin' paid for doin' what comes natur'lly:
Let's go on with the show.