What’s the Use?

Lyrics

[OLD LADY] I have always been wily and clever At deceiving and swindling and such And I feel just as clever as ever But I seem to be losing my touch Oh, I'm losing my touch Yes, I'm clever, but what does it get me? My employer gets all of my take All I get is my daily spaghetti While he gorges on truffles and cake What's the use? What's the use? There's no profit in cheating It's all so defeating And wrong, oh so wrong That I just have to pass it along! [RAGOTSKI] That old hag is no use in this gyp joint Not a sou have I made on her yet And the one thing that pays in this clip joint Is my fraudulent game of roulette Is my game of roulette But I have to pay so much protection To the chief of police and his men That each day when he makes his collection I'm a poor man all over again [OLD LADY & RAGOTSKI] What's the use? What's the use? Of dishonest endeavor And being so clever? It's wrong, oh so wrong If you just have to pass it along! [MAXIMILIAN] It's a very fine thing to be prefect Shaking down all the gamblers in town My position has only one defect That there's someone who's shaking me down Who is shaking me down For this fellow unhappily knows me And he's on to the game that I play And he threatens to shame and expose me If I do not incessantly pay [OLD LADY, RAGOTSKI & MAXIMILIAN] What's the use? What's the use? Of this sneaky conniving And slimy contriving It's wrong, oh so wrong If you just have to pass it along! [CROOK] I could live very well by extortion But I simply can't keep what I earn For I haven't a sense of proportion And roulette is my only concern Is my only concern I've a system that's fiendishly clever Which I learned from a croupier friend And I should go on winning forever But I do seem to lose in the end [OLD LADY, RAGOTSKI, MAXIMILIAN & CROOK] What's the use? What's the use? [OLD LADY] Of this cheating and plotting You end up with nothing [OLD LADY, RAGOTSKI, MAXIMILIAN & CROOK] It's wrong, oh so wrong If you just have to pass it along! [ENSEMBLE] Pass it along, pass it along Pass it along, pass it along Pass it along, pass it along Pass it along, pass it along Pass it along, pass it along Pass it along, pass it along Pass it, pass it, pass it, pass it [ALL] Oh, what's the use? What's the use? What's the use? What's the use? Oh, there's no use in cheating It's all so defeating And wrong, it's so wrong Oh, so wrong, oh, so wrong If you just have to pass it along!