A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

That '50s Album

Tant Pis, Tant Pis (Whatever Goes Wrong, Goes Wrong)

By: Paul S Cilwa Posted: 10/31/2026 Page Views: 65
Hashtags: #Music #1950s
Cheerful hopelessness, 1950s style..
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (430 words)

Doris Day introduced "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" in Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1956, and it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. My mom sang it so often, and so cheerfully, that it was the first song whose lyrics I ever learned. But if "whatever will be" is the philosophy, why stop at cheerful? This song wasn't performed by Day. But it could have been, on a very bad week! This version is by Dory Daye.

Tant Pis, Tant Pis (Whatever Goes Wrong, Goes Wrong)

By Paul S Cilwa · Performed by Dory Daye

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
When I was just a little boy
I fell from the top of a cherry tree
My arm was bent backwards with blood all around, and
My Tante Thérèse said to me:

[Chorus]
Tant pis, Tant pis
Whatever goes wrong, goes wrong
There's nothing a tear can mend
Tant pis, Tant pis, oh well, oh well,
It's too bad, too bad, Tant pis.

[Verse 2]
The year I turned nine, our old house burned down
With the cat and the canary
Papa lost the mill, Maman lost her mind, and
My Tante Thérèse said to me:

[Chorus]
Tant pis, Tant pis
Whatever goes wrong, goes wrong
There's nothing a tear can mend
Tant pis, Tant pis, oh well, oh well,
It's too bad, too bad, Tant pis.

[Verse 3]
At thirty my girlfriend Lucille
And I set a date to marry
A twister took Reims, my bride, and the cake, and
My Tante Thérèse said to me:

[Chorus]
Tant pis, Tant pis
Whatever goes wrong, goes wrong
There's nothing a tear can mend
Tant pis, Tant pis, oh well, oh well,
It's too bad, too bad, Tant pis.

[Verse 4]
Then when last March, the cliff gave way
And down went her house and chauffeur,
with the poodle, the Peugeot, piano, and
Here's what I said to her:

[Chorus]
Tant pis, Tant pis
Whatever goes wrong, goes wrong
There's nothing a tear can mend
Tant pis, Tant pis, oh well, oh well,
It's too bad, too bad, Tant pis.

[Instrumental Break]

[Bridge]
When troubles come, just wear a smile,
They'll get much worse in just a while.
Keep your chin up, Cherie, and your hair in place,
While doom and disaster grin at your face!

[Chorus]
Tant pis, Tant pis
Whatever goes wrong, goes wrong
There's nothing a tear can mend
Tant pis, Tant pis, oh well, oh well,
It's too bad, too bad, Tant pis.