No one to talk with, all by myself,
No one to walk with, but I'm happy on the shelf,
Ain’t Misbehavin’, I'm savin' my love for you.
I know for certain, the one I love,
I'm thru with flirtin', It's just you I'm thinkin' of
Ain’t Misbehavin’, I'm savin' my love for you.
Like Jack Horner in the corner,
Don't go nowhere, What do I care,
Your kisses are worth waitin' for, believe me.
I don't stay out late, don't care to go,
I'm home about eight, just me and my radio,
Ain’t Misbehavin’, I'm savin' my love for you.
When the Immerman brothers
wanted new songs for their 1929 revue Hot Chocolates, the Razaf/Waller team was their
first choice. As rehearsals progressed, the Immermans decided to
try the novel idea of bringing Harlem downtown to larger numbers of
white New Yorkers than could be accommodated updated. The hit song of
the evening was "Ain't Misbehavin'." The song was performed three times
during the show, once from the orchestra pit by a young trumpeter, most
recently from Chicago, named Louis Armstrong. A few weeks into
the show's run of 228 performances, Armstrong was moved onstage in a
trio (with Waller and the hefty Edith Wilson) billed as One Thousand
Pounds of Rhythm.<br><br>Three weeks into the show's run,
and desperate for cash to pay back alimony, Waller sold "Ain't
Misbehavin'" and nineteen other songs to publisher Irving Mills for
$500, surely the worst deal in music history. Waller would
continue to work in film and onstage and in recordings until his death
in 1943, the Razaf suffered a professional decline and, without the
royalties from his share of "Ain't Misbehavin'," endured economic
hardship during the Depression.