A Boy's Complaint
(Written for John Speed Murphy, Evansville, Indiana.)
Grandma calls me Johnnie, father calls me John,
My sweetheart calls me Buddy, and the boys call me Don,
But mother, oh dear mother, whenever I come near,
She calls me darling BABY and sometimes "BABY DEAR."
I like the name of Johnnie, I'm proud of my name John,
I don't mind hearing Buddy and the shorter name of Don,
But though I love dear mother far more than all the rest,
Her name of DARLING BABY I thoroughly detest.
You see when I am playing with boys in the street,
And pitching ball or doing some extraordinary feat,
It makes me feel so little to hear my mother call,
"Watch out my darling BABY, be careful lest you fall!"
I'm not a darling baby, nor little baby dear,
I'm quite a great big boy and have no baby fear,
But I can't stand the guying the boys give to me,
When mother starts to calling that hateful name—"BABEE."