“Anything You Can Do” -- Betty Hutton and Howard Keel (Irving Berlin, Lyrics and Music)
Handsome Irish immigrant Frank Butler tried his hand at many a profession after arriving in the United States at the age of 13 -- stable boy, glassblower, and dog trainer among others -- before finding his calling as a trickshooter in a traveling carnival. When performing in Cincinnati on Thanksgiving Day in 1881 or 1875 (the record is unclear), Butler confident in his not inconsiderable talent, placed a $100 wager -- some accounts say $50 -- with local hotel owner Jack Frost that he could outshoot any local marksman the businessman could front.
Frank Butler, c. 1882
Young Ms. Moses would later recall her moment of victory: "I had to score my last bird to win. I stopped for an instant before I lined my gun. I saw my mother's and auntie's face. I knew I would win!" And win she did.
Perhaps had Butler known about his young opponent, he might have been a bit less amazed by her marksmanship. Annie, as the young girl was called, had not led an easy life. Born in a log cabin, the sixth of nine children born into an impoverished family in rural Ohio. Following her father’s death by frostbite, she was put in the care of a couple who cruelly subjected her to repeated physical and mental abuse. As soon as able, she ran away and rejoined her mother and siblings. At an early age, Anne displayed the talents that would make her such a formidable opponent to Bulter. She was an accomplished trapper and hunter by age eight. Soon she not only fed and supported her family, but sold sufficient game to local storekeepers and hotels to pay the family mortgage when she was but 15 years old.
Annie Oakley, 1894
Not only did Annie win Butler’s money on that fateful Thanksgiving Day, she captured his heart as well. He knew there was more to this young woman than her skill with a gun. Butler gave Annie and her family tickets to show, and a courtship began. The two were wed the following year, and remained together for the remainder of their days.
Their lives together were eventful. They would join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and tour the world. Annie, now known as Annie Oakley for reasons still puzzling historians, had supplanted her husband as the star of his own routine. He was reduced to her manager and state assistant. Her popularity was such that, other than Buffalo Bill himself, she was the top earning performer of his famous show. The Encyclopaedia Britannica records the skills employed in awing British audiences:
“Oakley never failed to delight her audiences, and her feats of marksmanship were truly incredible. At 30 paces she could split a playing card held edge-on, she hit dimes tossed into the air, she shot cigarettes from her husband's lips, and, a playing card being thrown into the air, she riddled it before it touched the ground.”
Film Footage from 1894 Shows Annie Firing First at Fixed Targets and
Then Shooting Small Glass Globes Filled with Colored Powders
and Tossed into the Air
To the end of her life, Annie maintained her craft and encouraged other women to become as proficient as she. She even offered her service in recruiting and leading a company of female sharpshooters in the Spanish-American War, an offer rejected out of hand by the War Department. She worked untiringly for women rights and the advancement of female marksmanship, two issues she thought indistinguishable.
Their marriage was a happy one, each devoted to the other. Of his bride, Butler once wrote, "Her presence would remind you, Of an angel in the skies, And you bet I love this little girl, With the rain drops in her eyes." After five decades of marriage, Annie succumbed to pernicious anemia 3 November 1926. 18 days later, a heartbroken Frank Butler followed her into oblivion. Butler’s death certificate listed senility as his killer, but it is commonly thought that, refusing to face life without his beloved Annie, he committed suicide by starvation.
Last Known Photograph of
Annie Oakley and Frank Butler
While far less fascinating that the actual lives of the competitors in that long ago contest that would introduce Butler to his future wife, the highly fictionalized Annie Get Your Gun is nonetheless entertaining for all that. Perhaps the most memorable song is Irving Berlin delightful if fanciful prologue to yet a second match which Annie's friend Chief Sitting Bull convinces Annie to throw, thereby preserving Butler's masculine ego.
“Anything You Can Do” -- Betty Hutton and Howard Keel (Irving Berlin, Lyrics and Music)
[1st refrain]
[Annie:] Anything you can do I can do better
I can do anything better than you
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can! Yes, I can!
[Frank:] Anything you can be I can be greater
Sooner or later I'm greater than you
[Annie:] No, you're not
[Frank:] Yes, I am
[Annie:] No, you're not
[Frank:] Yes, I am
[Annie:] No, you're not
[Frank:] Yes, I am, yes I am
[Frank:] I can shoot a partridge with a single cartridge
[Annie:] I can get a sparrow with a bow and arrow
[Frank:] I can live on bread and cheese
[Annie:] And only on that?
[Frank:] Yes
[Annie:] So can a rat
[Frank:] Any note you can reach I can go higher
[Annie:] I can sing anything higher than you
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[2nd refrain]
[Annie:] Anything you can buy I can buy cheaper
I can buy anything cheaper than you
[Frank:] Fifty cents
[Annie:] Forty cents
[Frank:] Thirty cents
[Annie:] Twenty cents
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can! Yes, I can!
[Frank:] Anything you can say I can say softer
[Annie:] I can say anything softer than you
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can! Yes, I can!
[Frank:] I can drink my liquor faster than a flicker
[Annie:] I can drink it quicker and get even sicker
[Frank:] I can open any safe
[Annie:] Without being caught?
[Frank:] Sure
[Annie:] That's what I thought (you crook!)
[Frank:] Any note you can hold I can hold longer
[Annie:] I can hold any note longer than you
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can! Yes, I can!
[Frank:] No, you can't -- Yes, you can!
[3rd refrain]
[Annie:] Anything you can wear I can wear better
In what you wear I'd look better than you
[Frank:] In my coat
[Annie:] In your vest
[Frank:] In my shoes
[Annie:] In your hat
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can! Yes, I can!
[Frank:] Anything you can say I can say faster
[Annie:] I can say anything faster than you
[Frank:] Noyoucan't
[Annie:] YesIcan
[Frank:] Noyoucan't
[Annie:] YesIcan
[Frank:] Noyoucan't
[Annie:] YesIcan
[Frank:] Noyoucan't
[Annie:] Yes, I can! Yes, I can!
[Frank:] I can jump a hurdle
[Annie:] I can wear a girdle
[Frank:] I can knit a sweater
[Annie:] I can fill it better
[Frank:] I can do most anything
[Annie:] Can you bake a pie?
[Frank:] No
[Annie:] Neither can I
[Frank:] Anything you can sing I can sing sweeter
[Annie:] I can sing anything sweeter than you
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Oh, yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
[Frank:] No, you can't, can't, can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can, can, can, can
[Frank:] No, you can't
[Annie:] Yes, I can
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