In the Tiber there sits a boat
Gently dipping its bow
Trim and tidy and built to float
Pretty little picture
Now
Put a boy on the starboard side
Leaning out of the rail
Next to him put a blushing bride
Slim and slender and starry-eyed
Down below put a tiny bed
The sun gets pale
The sea gets red
And off they sail
On the first high tide:
The boat and the bed and the boy and the bride
It's a pretty little picture oh my
Pretty little picture how true
Pretty little picture which I
Pseudol-iddle-us give to you
Feel the roll of the playful waves
See the sails as they swell
Hear the whips on the galley-slaves
Pretty little picture
Well:
Let it carry your cares away
Out of sight out of mind
Past the buoy and through the bay
Soon there's nothing but sea and spray
Night descends and the moon's aglow
Your arms entwined
You steal below
And far behind
At the edge of day
The bong of the bell of the buoy in the bay
And the boy and the bride and the boat are away
It's a pretty little picture to share
As our little boat sails to sea
Take your little trip free as air
Have a little freedom on me
No worries no bothers
No captains no fathers
In the ocean an island waits
Smooth and sandy and pink
Filled with lemons and nuts and dates
Pretty little picture
In a cottage of cypress trees
Seashells dotting the door
Boy and bride live a life of ease
Doing nothing but what they please
And every night when the stars appear
There's nothing more
To see and hear
Just the shore
Where the lovers lie
The sand and the sea
And the stars and the sky
And the sound of a soft little satisfied sigh
All your petty little problems will cease
And your little family will flow
And your little may I to less
Pretty little picture
No no
Pretty little masterpiece
Pretty little master
Pretty little picture
