When a felon's not engaged.... ("A policeman's lot is not a happy one!") sung by James Bierney

"When a felon's not engaged in his employment" (Sergeant and Chorus of Police)
The Pirates of Penzance (or The Slave of Duty)
Music by Arthur Sullivan
Libretto by W. S. Gilbert.
Please Like, Subscribe and, whatever you thought, comment.
The wonderful accompaniment was provided by Uli Schauerte whose CZcams channel can be found here @UliSchauerte and website is www.uli-schaue...
On his great website you can find orchestral accompaniments, from Mahler, Schubert, Ravel and many others, all painstakingly, and beautifully, made by this excellent musician.
The Pirates of Penzance (or The Slave of Duty) is a comic opera in two acts. Its official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31st December 1879, where it was well received by both audiences and critics. Its London debut was on 3rd April 1880, at the Opera Comique, where it ran for 363 performances.
The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets the daughters of Major-General Stanley, including Mabel, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic soon learns, however, that he was born on the 29th of February, and so, technically, he has a birthday only once each leap year. His indenture specifies that he remain apprenticed to the pirates until his "twenty-first birthday", meaning that he must serve for another 63 years. Bound by his own sense of duty Frederic's solace is that Mabel agrees to wait for him faithfully.
The Policeman’s Song is sung in Act II, when Mabel tells the police that they must go alone to face the pirates. The police muse that an Felon might be just like any other man, and it is a shame to deprive him of "that liberty which is so dear to all" and that, in fact, a Policeman’s Lot Is Not a Happy One!
When a felon's not engaged in his employment,
Or maturing his felonious little plans
His capacity for innocent enjoyment
Is just as great as any honest man's.
Our feelings we with difficulty smother
When constabulary duty is to be done.
Taking one consideration with another,
A policeman's lot is not a happy one.
When constabulary duties to be done, to be done.
A policeman's lot is not a happy one.
When the enterprising burglar's not a-burgling,
When the cutthroat isn't occupied in crime,
He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling
And listen to the merry village chime.
When the coster's finished jumping on his mother,
He loves to lie a-basking in the sun.
Taking one consideration with another
A policeman's lot is not a happy one
When constabulary duty's to be done, to be done.
A policeman's lot is not a happy one