Who sings it on the cast recording?

Ken Page is the featured vocalist on the track, supported by the Ain't Misbehavin band.

Is it a Waller-written song?

No. Standard references credit Fred Fisher and Ada Benson, though Waller is closely associated through later recordings and performance tradition.

Where does it sit in the show sequence?

On a common 2-CD listing, it appears in Act 2 as Disc 2, track 6, after Mean to Me.

What tempo should I start with?

Metadata for the cast-recording track lists about 108 BPM, a useful starting point before you match your production chart.

Your Feet's Too Big Lyrics — Ain't Misbehavin'

Your Feet's Too Big Lyrics

Fats Waller Version of Lyrics:

Who's that walkin' round here, Mercy
Sounds like baby patter, baby elephant patter thats what I calls it
Say up in Harlem at a table for two
There were four of us,
me, your big feet and you
From your ankles up, I'd say you sure look sweet
From there down there's just too much feet
Yes, your feets too big
Don't want ya, cause ya feets too big
Can't use ya, cause ya feets too big
I really hate ya, cause ya feets too big
"Do wahs etc"
Where did ya get em
Your girl she likes you, she thinks you're nice
Got what it takes to be in paradise
She likes your face
She likes your (???)
Man oh man those things are too big
Your feets too big
Don't want cha, cause ya feets too big
Mad at you, cause your feets too big
I hate you, cause your feets too big
----my goodness (words missing) ----shiff shiff shiff
Oh your (peddelick ???) extremities are colossal
To me you look just like a fossil
Got me walkin', talkin' and squarkin''
Cause your feets too big
Yeah, Come on and walk that thing
Oh I've never heard of such walkin', Mercy

Your (???) extremities really are obnoxious
one never knows do one

Chubby Checker version of Lyrics

Who's that walkin' round here, Mercy
Say at a diner at a table for two
There are four of us,
me, your big feet and you
From your ankles up, you sure look sweet
From there down there's just too much feet
Yeah, your feets too big
Don't want ya, cause ya feets too big
Can't use ya, cause ya feets too big
I really hate ya, cause ya feets too big
Yeah, let's hear it now
Where did ya get em
Your baby she likes you, she thinks you're nice
Got what it takes to be in, ar paradise
She likes your face
She likes your (???)
Man oh man them things are too big
Oh your feets too big
Can't Twist, cause ya feets too big
Can't Shake it, cause your feets too big
You just don't make it, cause your feets too big
Come on walk that thing
Never heard such walkin' Mercy
Where'd ya get em
Oh your (???) extremities are colossal
To me you look just like a fossil
You've got me walkin', talkin' and squarkin''
Your feets too big, too big, too large
Yeah, your feets too big
Don't want cha, cause your feets too big
I can't stand ya, cause your feets too big
I'm mad at cha, cause ya feets too big
Hey,
Where'd ya get em
Your (???) extremities really are obnoxious
one never knows do one
Last Update: February, 06th 2026

Song Overview

Your Feet's Too Big lyrics by Ken Page — Ken Page sells the joke and the groove in "Your Feet's Too Big" on the cast recording.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

What it is: A novelty-leaning jazz number (mid-1930s) credited to Fred Fisher (music) and Ada Benson (words), later made famous by Fats Waller's comic delivery.
Where it appears: In Ain't Misbehavin, it is Disc 2, track 6 on a common 2-CD edition, tucked into the Act 2 run after "Mean to Me."
Who features it: Ken Page (vocal) with the Ain't Misbehavin band under Luther Henderson's musical leadership.
Why it plays: It is physical comedy without pratfalls - the punch lines are in the phrasing, the timing, and the audience's mental picture.

Scene from Your Feet's Too Big by Ken Page — "Your Feet's Too Big" in a cast-recording upload.

Ain't Misbehavin (1978) - stage revue - non-diegetic (presented as nightclub performance). The revue uses this tune as a character vignette: Page steps into the spotlight, and the room becomes a standup set with a swing band. The joke is blunt, but the craft is not. You have to land the lyric like gossip, not like cruelty, or the number curdles.

The best thing about this song is how shamelessly it commits to the image. It is not subtle, and that is the point. Waller's tradition here is comic exaggeration as musicianship: the band stays steady, the singer stretches consonants, and the audience laughs because the time never breaks. Presto Music's personnel list reads like a lesson plan in how to support comedy with elegance: sax, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, bass, drums, and Henderson at the piano, all giving Page a springy floor to dance on with words.

Key takeaways:

Keep the groove polite: the lyric is rude enough by itself.
Build the picture: every punch line should sharpen the audience's mental cartoon.
Do not rush the tags: the laughs arrive a half-beat late when it is done right.

Creation History

Reference listings place the song in the mid-1930s, with Fisher and Benson credited as writers, and SecondHandSongs notes an early Ink Spots recording in 1935. Waller's later recording made it a calling-card style vehicle, full of ad-lib flavor, and the 1978 revue borrows that reputation. In other words: the show is not inventing this comic persona, it is renting a classic tux and wearing it like it was tailored yesterday.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Ken Page performing Your Feet's Too Big — Performance moments where the humor reads as rhythm, not insult.

Plot

A tiny domestic farce: someone is attractive, charming, and almost perfect - except for one gigantic detail the singer cannot stop staring at. In a revue, that is enough story. The audience watches the performer lose composure, then regain it, then lose it again, all while the band smiles politely and keeps time.

Song Meaning

On paper, it is a roast. In performance, it is a lesson in how comedy masks desire. The singer notices everything else, but the feet take over the imagination. The number becomes an argument about fixation: one detail turns into a whole relationship. In Ain't Misbehavin, it also functions as a salute to Waller's comic voice, where the joke is inseparable from swing phrasing and spoken asides.

Annotations

The work is credited to Fred Fisher and Ada Benson, with early recordings traced to 1935.

This matters because it frames the song as period popular writing, not a Broadway in-joke. Play it like the audience already knows the type of number it is: a comic feature for a singer who can handle time.

Waller is strongly associated with the song through later recordings and ad-libbed lines that became part of its folklore.

That association is the staging secret. Even when Page sings it, the number is in conversation with Waller's persona: mock-formal language, sudden side comments, and a grin you can hear.

On the 2-CD track list, it appears as Disc 2, track 6 in the Act 2 sequence.

Placement is not random. Act 2 needs variety fast, and this song is a quick jolt of comedy before the show pivots into other textures.

Shazam metadata for the cast-recording track lists about 108 BPM, and Musicnotes lists a common arrangement in C major with a vocal range of C4 to E5.

That combination is useful in rehearsal: medium bounce, comfortable range, and lots of room for spoken-style timing without vocal strain.

Shot of Your Feet's Too Big by Ken Page — A comic feature that depends on timing, not volume.

Rhythm and the arc

The arc is a staircase: observation, disbelief, exaggeration, then a button. The rhythm stays steady while the lyric escalates, and that contrast is where the laughs live. A singer who treats it like a blues complaint will miss the lightness. A singer who treats it like patter will miss the swing. The trick is to sound conversational while staying married to the band.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

Song: Your Feet's Too Big
Artist: Original Broadway Cast of Ain't Misbehavin
Featured: Ken Page
Composer: Fred Fisher
Lyricist: Ada Benson
Producer: Thomas Z. Shepard
Release Date (album edition listing): July 14, 1987
Genre: Jazz standard; swing comedy feature
Instruments: Voice; piano; reeds; brass; bass; drums
Label (album edition listing): Masterworks Broadway
Mood: Playful; teasing; brisk
Length: 3:08
Track #: Disc 2, track 6 (2-CD edition listing)
Language: English
Album: Ain't Misbehavin (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Music style: Straight-ahead swing with comic asides
Poetic meter: Accentual, speech-led stresses aligned to swing phrasing

Frequently Asked Questions

Who sings it on the cast recording?: Ken Page is the featured vocalist on the track, supported by the Ain't Misbehavin band.
Is it a Waller-written song?: No. Standard references credit Fred Fisher and Ada Benson, though Waller is closely associated through later recordings and performance tradition.
Where does it sit in the show sequence?: On a common 2-CD listing, it appears in Act 2 as Disc 2, track 6, after "Mean to Me."
How long is the cast-recording track?: Discography listings give a duration of 3:08.
What is the acting objective?: Tease without turning mean. The audience should laugh at fixation and exaggeration, not feel a real attack.
What makes the number hard?: Timing. You have to live inside swing time while delivering spoken-style tags that want to drift.
Do I need a huge range?: Not necessarily. A common sheet arrangement lists a vocal range of C4 to E5, which sits comfortably for many voices when transposed as needed.
What tempo should I start with?: Metadata for the cast-recording track lists about 108 BPM, a useful starting point before you match your production chart.
Why is it effective in Act 2?: It gives the second act a quick, clean laugh and resets the room's energy before the next tonal shift.

Awards and Chart Positions

The song itself is primarily tracked through recordings and standard repertory listings, including an early chart note in 1935 for Ink Spots on SecondHandSongs. The awards story that matters here belongs to the revue that made this cast album a reference: Ain't Misbehavin won the 1978 Tony Award for Best Musical, with additional major wins documented by IBDB and the licensing publisher. According to the official Tony Awards archive, that Best Musical win is part of the show’s historical footprint.

Item	Year	Result
Work chart note (Ink Spots, work database)	1935	Listed as 63rd for the year in one cataloged note
Tony Awards	1978	Best Musical (Ain't Misbehavin) - Won

How to Sing Your Feet's Too Big

Here, the practical metrics are friendly. Shazam metadata lists the cast track around 108 BPM, and Musicnotes lists a common arrangement in C major with a vocal range of C4 to E5. Treat those as rehearsal anchors, then follow your chart and key.

Tempo: Start around 108 BPM. Keep it buoyant. The comedy reads best when the time smiles.
Diction: Crisp consonants, but do not chop. Let the line flow, then land the punch word cleanly.
Breathing: Take quick, quiet breaths before the tags. Big breaths broadcast effort, and effort dulls the joke.
Flow and rhythm: Stay in the pocket. Place comedic asides slightly behind the beat if it helps them sound spoken, but do not derail the band.
Pitch and key: If you use the C major pocket, keep the middle warm and conversational. If you transpose, keep the same relaxed speech feel.
Accents: Choose a few targets: the body-part nouns, the sudden mock-formal phrases, the final button. Too many accents turns wit into shouting.
Mic: If amplified, go smaller. Intimacy makes teasing sound clever, not cruel.
Pitfalls: Do not play disgust. Play fascination. The audience should hear that the singer cannot stop looking, and that is why it is funny.

Additional Info

One reason this song survives is that it is portable. SecondHandSongs documents a deep cover history, and Wikipedia lists a long roster of later performers, from jazz to novelty-pop, with Waller as the gravitational center. The revue uses the title as a built-in stage picture, and the cast recording makes the picture audible. As stated by the New York Public Library archives catalog, Luther Henderson's papers include sheet music connected to this tune, a quiet reminder that these numbers were crafted and arranged, not tossed off casually.

Key Contributors

Entity	Type	Relationship (S-V-O)
Fred Fisher	Person	Fisher composed the credited music for the standard.
Ada Benson	Person	Benson wrote the credited words for the standard.
Thomas "Fats" Waller	Person	Waller popularized the song through later recordings and comic performance tradition.
Ken Page	Person	Page performs the featured cast-recording track in the revue context.
Luther Henderson	Person	Henderson anchors the cast recording as pianist and musical architect for the band.
Thomas Z. Shepard	Person	Shepard produced the Broadway cast recording.
Legacy Recordings	Organization	Legacy publishes a 2-CD track list documenting the Act 2 placement.

Sources

Sources: Legacy Recordings 2-CD track list, Presto Music cast recording credits, Shazam track metadata, SecondHandSongs work page, Wikipedia work entry, Musicnotes arrangement listing, Tony Awards winners archive, IBDB production record, MTI show page, NYPL archives catalog

Browse by musical