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.