Eva Tanguay was a popular vaudeville performer around the turn of the 20th Century. Her signature song was I Don’t Care which she recorded in 1922. It originally appeared as sheet music in 1905. This is a song from tin-pan alley. It was later performed by Judy Garland in the 1949 movie In the Good Old Summertime. Lyrics by Jean Lenox, Music by Harry O. Sutton.
Eva Tanguay: I DON’T CARE
They say I’m crazy, got no sense,
But I don’t care
They may or may not mean offence,
But I don’t care
You see I’m sort of independent,
Of a clever race descendent,
My star is on the ascendant,
That’s why I don’t care
Chorus
I don’t care, I don’t care,
What they may think of me
I’m happy go lucky,
Men say that I’m plucky,
So jolly and care free
I don’t care, I don’t care,
If I should get a mean and stony stare
If I’m never successful,
It won’t be distressful,
Cause I don’t care
My voice is what you’d call a freak
But I don’t mind it
???
I don’t care
If teachers rates I could afford
Or I had studied hard abroad
I’d now be working for my board
And that’s why I don’t care
Chorus
I don’t care, I don’t care
If I’m not Queen of Song
And while I am shouting
You may all be doubting
And hoping it won’t last long
I don’t care, I don’t care
My voice may sound funny
But it’s getting me the money
So I don’t care
Some people say I think I’m it,
But I don’t care,
They say they don’t like me a bit,
But I don’t care;
‘Cos my good nature effervescing,
Is one, there is no distressing,
My spirit there is no oppressing,
Just ‘cos I don’t care.
Chorus
I don’t care, I don’t care,
If people don’t like me,
I’ll try to outlive it,
I know I’ll forgive it,
And live contentedly
I don’t care, I don’t care,
If people do not try to treat me fair
There is naught can amaze me,
Dislike cannot daze me,
Cause I don’t care.
If I call on a friend and she’s “not in,”
Why, I don’t care,
I simply discover I need some pins,
Cause I don’t care;
Her feeble slight does but amuse me,
Nothing like it could induce me,
To hand it back none could induce me,
Just ‘cos I don’t care.
Chorus
I don’t care, I don’t care,
If she did mean to snub
I’m feeling so jolly,
T’would be simple folly
To even feel the rub
I don’t care, I don’t care,
If I do call on her
And she’s not there
If she can’t say “Hello,”
She’s not a good fellow,
And I don’t care.
They say my hair’s in silly style,
But I don’t care,
They but amuse me all the while,
Cause I don’t care;
You see my hair with me’s a fixture,
And it’s color’s not a mixture,
When they call me living picture,
Surely I don’t care
Chorus
I don’t care, I don’t care,
If my hair is not dressed swell;
I’ve got no kick coming -
It’s vastly becoming,
And suits my face so well
I don’t care, I don’t care,
I know that style like mine
Is mighty rare.
So no one can “Phase” me,
By calling me crazy
Cause I don’t care
Here is an article about Eva Tanguay on Slate Magazine
Vanishing Act: In Search of Eva Tanguay
