Well, I got a copy of the cd so here are the lyrics as sung by A-rab, Anybodys and Baby John :
Shrimps ain't good for anythin',
watching parades or the movies or anythin',
no good for nothin' but crawlin' and stalling' around.
Kids ain't good for anythin',
shavin' or neckin' or anythin',
no good for nothin' but droopin' and poopin' around.
Girls ain't good for anythin',
swearin' or smokin' or spittin' or anythin'
I swear and I smoke and I get Hell,
why can't I be male.
Why can't I be - big, tall, male
like everyone else.
Listen to an excerpt
From the liner notes :
This Fugue for Delinquents- A-rab (Shrimps ain't), Baby John (Kids ain't) and Anybodys (Girls ain't)-was written during the tryout to help lighten up West Side's first act. Hearing the finished song, the creators decided it lightened things up too much. And with that
brilliant sociological treatise Gee Officer Krupke already knocking 'em dead, Like Everybody Else went unsung. Note how Bernstein constructs his rondo over that cool, boppy riff.
It's definitely a boppy number.
