"Barkis is willin--
 That's the message."
            Dickens

"Barkis Is Willin" (1873)
A Serio Comic Song with Chorus.
Words by Miss Allie Hayner
Music by Thomas Martin Towne, 1835-1912

1.
Oh there's always an old willin Barkis,
If there's aught in this world to be won,
And how many, and strange are the manners,
Of the telling "how can it be done,"
To a kiss, a young man helps himself,
Quick the maiden draws back with disdain!
While the heart of the sly little elf
Says "Barkis is willin."

CHORUS
Oh Barkis, Barkis is willin I say,
Yes willin, willin is Barkus today,
'Tis ever, ever and surely the way
That Barkis Barkis is willin (is willin).
 
2.
Oh the court sits in cold, rigid silence,
And all "guilty" is plain in each face,
'Till a green back is givin each juror,
When it mightily changes their grace,
So the verdict is changed with precision,
And 'tis "not guilty" now that they say,
For the money so tickles decision,
That "Bakis is willin."

(CHORUS)

3.
The political world gives to many,
Of the Barkis-es willin, a place,
Yet how many are planning, and working,
With an awful unsatisfied face,
Oh how often our eyes are wooling,
When they tell us they sacrifice home,
Yet there's plenty of the sly wire pullin,
For "Barkis is willin."

(CHORUS)

4.
'Tis a clerical phrase, if said rightly,
And its meaning convenient to teach,
If there comes a "loud call" from the city,
And an urgent request to them preach,
'Tis a plain case of duty, not pleasure,
There's no thought of the extra big pay,
So he writes to the "Brethren" at leisure,
That "Barkis is willin."

(CHORUS)

5.
How they legislate strong, and with fervor,
For full fare for the world in a mass,
Yet there's not but is ever so willin,
To all smiling accept a through pass.
There are those who our nation are stabbing,
While they shamefully ask for back pay,
Thus to hear oft of salary grabbing,
For "Barkis is willin."

(CHORUS)