1st verse:]
Mabel Brown came to town
All dress'd up in her gingham gown
And a ribbon in her hair
In her eyes a vacant stare
Joined a show, wrote her beau
Mabel wanted to let him know
She was earning, so to speak
Twenty dollars a week
Her beau came down to New York town
To see his Mabel dear
The minute that he saw her flat
He whispered in her ear

[chorus:]

How do you do it, Mabel, on twenty dollars a week?
Tell us how you are able on twenty dollars a week
A fancy flat and a diamond bar
Twenty hats and a motor car
Go right to it but how do you do it
On twenty dollars a week?

[2nd verse:]

Mabel's beau couldn't go
Hung around for a week or so
Till he'd written on a pad
All the things that Mabel had
When he'd spent ev'ry cent
Right to Mabel he quickly went
For a small financial loan
Then he started for home
Each girl he met down home, you bet
He told them all he saw
Next day a mob were on the jo
At Mabel's flat to roar

[2nd chorus:]

How do you do it, Mabel, on twenty dollars a week?
Tell us how you are able on twenty dollars a week
We'd like to work in the chorus too
Earn our twenty the same as you
If we knew it, we'd willingly do it
On twenty dollars a week