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The Little Tramp is an original song from the album Influences
Written, produced and with lyrics and vocals by Paul Robert Thomas
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Rising from London poverty to global stardom, a silent film icon captivates the world as a beloved comedy character. However, his public plea for peace and human unity sparks political persecution, forcing him into exile until late-life honors cement his enduring legacy.
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The Little Tramp lyrics
You were born in London behind poverty’s door
At twenty one you sailed to America’s distant shore
Many producers there saw your potential
They thought that you were absolutely sensational
They asked you to dress as a clown at a kid’s race
These were the silent days, when it was all said by the expressions on your face
You dressed in a waistcoat and baggy pants, with shoes on the wrong feet
With a little black moustache and Fatty Arbuckle’s bowler hat that made the outfit complete
From then on your film career grew and grew
Your face and name everyone around the world knew
There was no bigger star of the silver screen around
Your eighty films were mostly silent in black and white without sound
I loved you on the silver screen
In all those funny crazy scenes
You were so naughty, were so funny
As The Little Tramp, the cheeky chappie
In your first ‘talkie’ at the end of ‘The Great Dictator’
You spoke an eight minute speech that branded you as a traitor
From then on your acting career came to a sudden end
All of the Hollywood stars stayed silent, as you they were scared to defend
The FBI wanted to silence you completely
For daring to publicly talk about peace and human unity
So when you went abroad, they banned you from returning
Because of the ‘Commie cause’ they said that you were serving
Harry Truman, who had dropped the bombs on Japan
Ordered you barred from returning to your adopted home land
They didn’t want men preaching unity and love
Their war machine aims to shoot to kill peace doves
I still watched you on the silver screen
In all those funny crazy scenes
You were so naughty, were so funny
As The Little Tramp, the cheeky chappie
They claim that war unites people of the country as one
As they make fat profits from selling tanks, planes and guns
For them the dead are just casualties of war
There are no sentiments, money comes first and before
Charlie’s acting career was destroyed and was lost
He could never return to being the star that he once was
He lived in exile, a forgotten man
Thousands of miles from his adopted home land
Years later when the scenes had changed
They invited him back to his adopted home land again
To collect an award that was long overdue
To honour a man destroyed by them for his peace loving views
He didn’t stay there long and returned to his kids and wife
In Switzerland where he had built a new peaceful life
Soon after in his sleep he suffered a stroke
He never saw the light of day again, he never awoke
And even though he was gone
His legacy lives on and on
And even though he was gone
His legacy lives on and on
All over the world they issued Charlie Chaplin stamps
To honour this great Little Tramp
This great Little Tramp
Gone but not forgotten, the great Little Tramp
To this day I watch him on the silver screen
In all those funny crazy scenes
He was so naughty, was so funny
As The Little Tramp, the cheeky chappie
The Little Tramp, the cheeky chappie
The Little Tramp, the cheeky chappie
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Lyrics and vocals Paul Robert Thomas PRS No. 497904008 (London)
PRS Tunecode: 109184SL * ISWC: T-343.766.665-0
Audiosparx Catalogue ID: 1460559 * ISRC: US5UL2688907
Released by Swiss Cottage Recordz, London
Publishing Admin – UL Sounds LLC, Studio City, USA and Budde Music Ltd.
Licensing (Non-exclusive) by Audiosparx, Florida USA.
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