Steamboat Bill 1910

James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 12 Sep 2004

Down the Mississippi
steamed the Whipperwill,
commanded by the pilot,
Mister Steamboat Bill.
The owners gave him orders
on the strict Q.T.
to try and beat the record
of the Robert E. Lee.
Just feed up your fires,
let the old smoke roll,
burn up all your cargo,
if you run out of coal.
"If we don't beat that record,"
Billy told the mate,
"send my mail in care of Peter
to the Golden Gate."

Steamboat Bill,
steaming down the Mississippi,
Steamboat Bill,
a mighty man was he.
Steamboat Bill,
steaming down the Mississippi
going to beat the record
of the Robert E. Lee

Up then stepped a gambling man
from Louisville,
who tried to get a bet
against the Whipperwill.
Billy flashed a roll
that was surely a bear,
the boiler, it exploded,
blew them up in the air.
The gambler said to Billy
as they left the wreck,
"I don't know where we're going,
but we're neck in neck.
Says Bill to the gambler,
I'll tell you what I'll do,
I will bet another thousand
I'll go higher than you."

Steamboat Bill,
he tore up the Mississippi,
Steamboat Bill,
the tide it made him swear,
Steamboat Bill,
missing on the Mississippi,
the explosion of the boiler
got him up in the air.

River's all in mourning now
for Steamboat Bill,
no more you'll hear the puffing
of the Whipperwill,
There's crape on every steamboat
that plows those streams,
from Memphis right to Natchez
down to New Orleans.
The wife of Mister William
was at home in bed,
when she got the telegram
that Steamboat's dead.
Says she to the children:
"Bless each honey lamb,
the next papa that you will have
will be a railroad man."

Steamboat Bill,
missing on the Mississippi,
Steamboat Bill,
is with an angel band,
Steamboat Bill,
missing, on the Mississippi,
he's a pilot on a ferry
in that Promised Land.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
pizz str bass
*
Steamboat Bill 1910
Music by The Leighton Bros.
Lyrics by Ren Shields
© 1910 by F.A. Mills New York
*
sequence and karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Sunday 12 September 2004 at 11.41
in association with Doug Grierson
*