Bilbao Song

Bill's beer hall in Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao,

Was the most fantastic place I've ever known.

For just a dollar you'd get all you wanted,

All you wanted, all you wanted

Of whatever kind of joy you called your own.

But if you had been around to see the fun

Well I don't know you might not like what you'd've seen;

The stools at the bar were damp with rye,

On the dancefloor the grass grew high,

Through the roof the moon was shining green

And the music really gave you some return on what you paid.

Hey Joe, play that old song they always played.

That ol' Bilbao

Down where we used to go

Who remembers the words ...

It's so long ago.

I don't know if it would have brought you joy or grief but

It was fantastic

It was fantastic

It was fantastic

Beyond belief.

Bill's beer hall in Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao,

Came a day the end of May in 1908

Four guys from Bristol came with sacks of coal dust,

Sacks of coal dust, sacks of coal dust

And the time they showed us all was really great.

But if you had been around to see the fun,

Well I don't know you might not like what you'd've seen;

The brandy bottles smashing through the air

And the chairs flying everywhere,

Through the roof the moon's still shining green

And those fog eyes all going crazy with their pistols blazing high,

"Think you can stop 'em ? Go ahead and try!"

That ol' Bilbao

Down where we used to go

Da da da da da da...

Who remembers the words ?

That ol' Bilbao

Casting its golden glow,

That ol' Bilbao

Love never laid me low

That ol' Bilbao

Why does it haunt me so ?

I don't know if it would have brought you joy or grief but

It was fantastic

It was fantastic

It was fantastic

Beyond belief.

Bill's beer hall in Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao,

Now they've cleaned it up and made it middle class

With potted palms and aspree

Very bourgeois, very bourgeois

Just another place to put your ass,

But if you could come around to see the fun

Well, I don't know, you might not find it such a strain,

Ha, they've cleaned up all the booze and broken glass,

On parquet floors you can't grow grass,

They've shut the green moon out because of rain

And the music makes you cringe now when you think of what you paid.

Hey Joe, play that ol' song they always played;

That ol' Bilbao

Down where we used to go

That ol' Bilbao

Casting its golden glow

That ol' Bilbao moon

Love never laid me low

That ol' Bilbao

Why does it haunt me so ?

I don't know if it would have brought you joy or grief but

It was fantastic

It was fantastic

It was fantastic

Beyond belief.

So long ago.