Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee Lyrics — As Thousands Cheer

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

• Work context: Written for Face the Music (opened 1932), then later folded into some As Thousands Cheer packages and recordings.
• Original stage intro: Opening night singers are documented as J. Harold Murray and Katherine Carrington.
• Scene idea: A self-service restaurant modeled on the Horn and Hardart Automat, where once-wealthy people trade optimism like loose change.
• Modern listening anchor: Included on the 1998 New York revival cast album associated with As Thousands Cheer.

As Thousands Cheer - revival add-in number - non-diegetic. If you want a single Berlin chorus that understands the Depression without turning it into a sermon, this is the one. The hook is a shrug that refuses to quit: coffee, pie, and a tiny slice of faith that the corner you cannot see yet still holds a rainbow. It is funny in the way real survival is funny, because the alternative is silence.

The writing is built like a social contract. Everyone agrees not to collapse, so everyone agrees to order something small and call it a plan. Berlin keeps the melody plain and singable, then lets the lyric do the sharper work: optimism as a coping strategy, not a personality trait. I hear it as a cafeteria toast to tomorrow, raised with a chipped cup. As stated in Time magazine, the number sits among Berlin's Depression-era crowd-pleasers that stayed adaptable across stage and popular song culture.

• Key takeaways:
• Keep the tone conversational, like you are trying to steady a friend across a table.
• Let the chorus feel communal. The message lands harder when it sounds shared.
• Do not oversell the hope. Understatement is what makes it believable.

Creation History

The song is documented as part of Face the Music (1932), with opening-night performers listed in reference summaries, and a hit recording credited to Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians on RCA Victor in the same year. It later migrated into the Berlin revue ecosystem and appears on modern As Thousands Cheer materials, including licensing and the 1998 New York revival cast recording, where it plays like a familiar headline dropped into a different newspaper.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

A group of people, bruised by economic collapse, gather in a self-service restaurant and talk themselves into staying upright. They do not fix the world. They order coffee and pie, and they keep talking until the day feels manageable again.

Song Meaning

The meaning is practical hope. The lyric is not saying everything is fine. It is saying you can choose the next small step: another cup, another bite, another minute where you do not give up. In the bigger As Thousands Cheer frame, the number fits the revue habit of turning national anxiety into stage language that audiences can absorb together, then carry back out to the street.

Annotations

The song appears in Face the Music and is set in a self-service restaurant modeled on the Horn and Hardart Automat.

Reference summary

That setting is the point. It keeps the lyric grounded in a place where people actually ate during hard years, and it explains why the chorus feels like group therapy with a menu.

The hit version was released in 1932 by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians on RCA Victor.

Discography note

This is how the tune escaped the theatre. Berlin writes for the stage, then the band world grabs it and makes it a living-room refrain.

It is included in modern As Thousands Cheer materials and the 1998 revival-era recording package.

Show materials listing

This is the later-life twist: the song becomes a flexible tool, not locked to one show. It can play as a period number, a revue palate-cleanser, or a warm-up that tells the audience what kind of night they are in for.

Style, rhythm, and cultural touchpoints

Musically it leans on clear, steady phrasing and a chorus designed for group pickup. The cultural touchpoint is Depression-era public eating and public waiting: cafeterias, automats, cheap comforts, and the habit of swapping encouragement when there is not much else to trade. The lyric does not pretend the era was cute. It simply insists that ritual can be a lifeline.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

• Song: Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee
• Artist: As Thousands Cheer 1998 New York Revival Cast (recording package); originally introduced in Face the Music (1932)
• Featured: Ensemble or group feature (production-dependent)
• Composer: Irving Berlin
• Producer: Bruce Kimmel (1998 cast recording release credit)
• Release Date: 1932 (original show and hit-record era); January 1, 1998 (revival cast-album metadata date)
• Genre: Musical theatre, traditional pop standard
• Instruments: Voice with theatre orchestra or dance-band arrangement
• Label: RCA Victor (1932 hit recording context); Concord Theatricals (1998 cast-album distribution metadata)
• Mood: Warm, resilient, wry
• Length: Varies by version (about 2 to 3 minutes is common; revival track length depends on edition)
• Track #: Varies by album
• Language: English
• Album (if any): As Thousands Cheer (1998 Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
• Music style: Chorus-driven comfort song designed for communal delivery
• Poetic meter: Accentual, speech-led phrasing with refrain anchors

Frequently Asked Questions

Was this written for As Thousands Cheer in 1933?

No. Reference histories place it in Face the Music (opened 1932), though it appears in later As Thousands Cheer materials and recordings.

Who sang it on opening night?

It is documented as sung by J. Harold Murray and Katherine Carrington on opening night of Face the Music.

Why is the restaurant setting important?

The Automat model makes the song feel real-world: people coping in public, ordering small comforts, and convincing each other to keep going.

What was the early hit recording?

Reference summaries cite a 1932 RCA Victor release by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians with vocals by Chick Bullock and the Three Waring Girls.

Is it usually a solo?

It can be, but it often works best as a group feature because the lyric is written like shared encouragement.

Is there a revival-era recording tied to As Thousands Cheer?

Yes. The 1998 New York revival cast album package includes the song in track listings.

Why did the tune last beyond its original show?

The chorus is simple, portable, and built for daily-life singing, so bands and later stage revues could adopt it easily.

What is the main performance trap?

Turning it into a pep rally. It lands better as calm, steady reassurance.

Additional Info

One reason the song travels well is that it does not demand a plot. It demands a table. You can stage it as a cafeteria scene, a backstage breather, or a quick revue interlude where the cast becomes a crowd for a few minutes. Concord Theatricals listings show it sitting alongside core As Thousands Cheer numbers in modern materials, and that is a clue to how revivals treat Berlin: they curate, they do not just reconstruct.

There is also a documented cover life that reads like a band-era relay race. Reference summaries list a 1942 Glenn Miller recording session and other wartime-era recordings, which makes sense: by then the chorus already carried the reputation of being a morale patch you could sew onto any hard week.

Key Contributors

How to Sing Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee

This song works when it sounds like a promise you are making in real time. Think warmth, steady tempo, and clean words that do not beg for sympathy.

• Common published key: C major.
• Vocal range (one published arrangement): B3 to E5.
• Style note: Let it sit in a light swing or gentle theatre pop feel, with speech-led phrasing.

1. Tempo: Pick a walking pace that feels like conversation. Too fast and the reassurance becomes a gag line.
2. Diction: Keep consonants bright, especially on everyday words. The plain language is the hook.
3. Breathing: Breathe at commas and thought breaks, not at bar lines. It should sound like talking with melody.
4. Flow and rhythm: Aim for a relaxed chorus pickup. Land the key phrase cleanly, then let the rest of the line smile.
5. Accents: Avoid punching every joke. Save emphasis for the chorus so the audience hears the communal pact.
6. Ensemble: If you have multiple voices, stagger entries or trade lines to make it feel like a room joining in.
7. Mic: In a mic'd room, sing close and intimate. In an unmic'd theatre, project with clarity, not force.
8. Pitfalls: Overacting the optimism. The strength comes from sounding steady, not shiny.

Sources

Sources: Wikipedia (Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee), Concord Theatricals show page for As Thousands Cheer, Spotify album listing for the 1998 cast recording, Apple Music track listing for the 1998 cast recording, Musicnotes sheet music listing, SecondHandSongs work page, Time magazine Irving Berlin feature.