Hubert Hawkins

I was battered and bruised, but the king was amused
And before the siesta, he made me his jester
And I found out soon, that to be a buffoon
Was a serious thing as a rule!
For a jester’s chief employment,
is to kill himself for your enjoyment
And a jester unemployed is nobody’s fool!

Sung by Danny Kaye, playing Hubert Hawkins, in The Court Jester (1955), movie writing credits to Norman Panama and Melvin Frank but lyrics credited to Sammy Cahn.