Victoria
The Waltworks is fortunately situated in a region of equable climate (not that we count on that lasting) and great natural beauty, within which the city of Victoria gleams like an asphalt-encrusted jewel. What a town it is! Visitors arrive worn down by the cares of the world, but they leave with a song on their lips, a smile in their hearts, and a burgeoning glow of respectability and polite reserve.
Victoria is the Latin word for victory. It was also the name of a 19th-century English queen whose long reign is commemorated in place names around the world. “Victorian” can mean coming from one of those. Thanks to Queen Vicky it more often means repressed, starchy, and anti-fun, for those were attributes she represented and tirelessly promoted. Effectively, too. Psychiatry was born during her tenure, and by the time she left the throne it was booming. Our city of Victoria, celebrated in this song, is gradually and by infinitesimal degrees emerging from her strait-laced era. Visitors will find it far from deserving of its stuffy reputation. Instead, they will find here a welcoming, cosmopolitan community where all are encouraged to relax, take in the scenery, and have a good time in a duly authorized way with excellent manners.
Walt: I like the picture. Pretty location! Not Victoria, but pretty.
All (solemnly): It is a place-holder that held its place.
The Music
If it’s effusive, skin-deep bonhomie you’re looking for, you’re sure to find it, for tourists get it just about everywhere they go. Tourists come like a warm, nourishing cloud that precipitates money wherever it touches land, and the money does get a sincere welcome. But the mood of jollity sometimes seems strained, and perhaps that comes through, appropriately enough, in the jolly strains of Victoria.
Verse 1
A D
People walking to and fro,
A A° E7
Ocean liners come and go;
A D
You’re sure to meet someone you know
E7
In Victoria, Victoria.
Verse 2
A D
Take a stroll down by the pier,
A A° E7
Gentle music you may hear;
A D
Why not leave a souvenir
E7
Here in Victoria?
Chorus
D A C#m
Where everyone wishes only to please you
D A E7
And to satisfy your whims as best they can!
A A7
Take a little walk around,
D D°
You’ll soon forget that you’re new in town
A A° E7
And you’ll say “I’m a real Victorian!”
Verse 3
Smiling faces everywhere,
Happy faces without care,
You can bet you’ll see them there,
In Victoria, Victoria.
Verse 4
People turn and look your way,
With smiling eyes that seem to say,
“Have a safe and special day
Here in Victoria!”
(Chorus)
(Instrumental verse)
Verse 1 reprise
People walking to and fro,
Ocean liners come and go;
You’re sure to meet someone you know
E7
Here in Victoria, British Columbia,
A E A
Canada!
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