Why Don't You Do Right

The speaker is angry with someone who once had money but now seems unable to support himself. She says he was careless with his opportunities and let other women deceive him. The repeated demand that he “do right” and bring her money gives the song a sharp, impatient tone. Beneath the scolding, there is disappointment: she once trusted him, but now expects little from him.

“Wanderin’ from door to door” suggests being so poor or unsettled that he has no secure place to stay. “I fell for your jivin’” means she believed his persuasive talk or tricks, not that she literally fell. The contrast between having “plenty money” in the past and offering only “a drink of gin” now emphasizes how far he has fallen, and how little he can give her.

The lyrics present the speaker as demanding money, but they also suggest that she feels misled and wants the man to take responsibility. Her repeated comparison with “some other men” may be a practical challenge, a taunt, or both. We cannot know from the words alone whether she still cares about him; her anger could reflect hurt, self-interest, or a mixture of the two.