Bilbao Song

Please, come into the Mudcat Cafe, which is not in Bilbao,
but in the Internet, to know about the BILBAO SONG

But wait, you don't need to go there to start reading...


THE BILBAO SONG

That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all

No paint was on the door (no paint was on the door)
The grass grew through the floor (the grass grew through the floor)
Of Tony's Two By Four (of Tony's Two By Four)
On the Bilbao shore (on the Bilbao shore)
But there were friends galore (howdy do, howdy do)
And there was beer to pour (chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug)
And moonlight on the shore (and the moon shines above)
That old Bilbao shore (on the shore, not the floor)
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all

Those old Bilbao guys, They loved to harmonize,
Who stopped to realize How fast the summer flies!
The moon was on the rise, We'd catch the ladies' eyes
And whisper Spanish lies, They never did get wise.
We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
Those were the greatest
Those were the greatest
Those were the greatest nights of them all

That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all


Transcribed by Ronald E. Hontz

Original Lyrics and Music by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill in the 1929 German musical "Happy End." Johnny Mercer added new lyrics.
(Title is often mistaken to be "Bill Bower Moon"). Bilbao is a city on the Bay of Biscay on the north coast of Spain.


BILBAO SONG (Happy End)
Sung by Marianne Faithful

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 dance floor the grass grew high,
Through the roof the moon was shining green
And the music really gave you some return on what you paid.

That old Bilbao
Down where we used to go
Da da da da da...
I can't remember the words,
Da da da da da da
It was 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 was really great,
But if you had ben 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? Well, go ahead and try!

That ol' Bilbao
Down where we used to go,
Casting its golden glow;
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 round 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
Casting its golden glow,
That ol' Bilbao moon,
Love never laid me low.
That ol' Bilbao,
Why does it **hurt 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.

The Brecht-Weill song, as sung in "September Songs, Music of Kurt Weill," cover by Marianne Faithfull, and originally sung on Broadway, in "Happy End," 1929. Lotte Lenya recorded it in 1930.


From THE MUDCAT CAFE

Go there if you can read the original lyrics in German
and also to get more information on the English versions