old bill bailey
Key: C

When Old BIll Bailey 
Plays the Ukalele
Chas McCarron and Nat Vincent
1915
Chords provided by Judy Muldawer
Visit banjojudy.com for additional songs
Intermediate/advanced ukulele chord shapes


Verse 1:

C       G7       
In Hono lulu town
C           G7           
A man known miles around 
E7                Am7         
Has turned things upside down 
     D7                G7     
They call him Old Bill Bailey 

C           G7           
Bill Bailey won his fame 
E7               Am7 
With his old gui tar 
D7      G          
Ukulele is its name
D7             G7 
In that land a far

    G7         Gdim   G7  
The ships ‘way out at sea 
    G7       Gdim G7G7+5
Can hear his melo dy

Chorus

     C        G7     C     
When Old Bill Bailey plays 
         G7   
the uka  lele 
C            G7        C  
Down in Hono lula they do 
          G7    
the "hula Hula" 
E7            Am7             
Ev'ry evening there they are, 
D7                                G7           
Swayin' while he's playin' his Ha waiian guitar

    C       G7     C            G7    
The ragtime motion even has the ocean 
C       Dm7    E7    
Bobbin' up and down, 
     Dm7     F          Dm7     F    
Some times a whale gets feeling flip 
C        Gm7              Gdim   A7   
Wags his tail and sinks a battle ship 

     C        G7     C     
When Old Bill Bailey plays 
       G7  
the ukalele
C           G7   C     
Down in Honalulu town. 

Verse 2:

C           G7                
Some suffra gettes went down, 
C       G7        
to Hono lulu town 
E7          Am7           
Among those gals of brown 
     D7                G7        
They tried a “Suffrage Movement” 

C            G7             
the meetings that they held 
E7           Am7  
never lasted long 
D7              G             
Old Bill Bailey broke them up 
D7               G7    
When he played a song, 

        G7       Gdim       G7   
Why for suffrage they don’t care 
         G7     Gdim        G7     G7+5
There is other “move ments” there. 

Chorus:

     C        G7     C     
When Old Bill Bailey plays 
        G7  
the uka lele
C           G7        C  
Down in Honolula they do 
          G7    
the "hula Hula" 
E7            Am7             
Ev'ry evening there they are, 
D7                               G7           
Swayin' while he's playin' his Hawaiin guitar 

    C       G7     C        
The ragtime motion even has 
    G7    
the ocean 
C       Gm7    E7    
Bobbin' up and down, 
    Dm7     F          Dm7     F   
sometimes a whale gets feeling flip
C        Gm7            
Wags his tail and sinks 
  Gdim   A7   
a battle ship 

    C         G7     C     
When Old Bill Bailey plays 
        G7  
the Uka lele
C           G7   C     
Down in Honolulu town. 

Chorus: 

     C        G7     C     
When Old Bill Bailey plays 
        G7  
the Uka lele
C           G7        C  
Down in Honolula they do 
          G7    
the "hula Hula" 
E7            Am7             
Ev'ry evening there they are, 
D7                               G7           
Swayin' while he's playin' his Hawaiian guitar
 
    C       G7     C        
The ragtime motion even has 
    G7    
the ocean 
C       Gm7    E7    
Bobbin' up and down, 
    Dm7      F          Dm7     F    
Some times a whale gets feeling flip 
C        Gm7              Gdim   A7   
Wags his tail and sinks a battle ship 

     C        G7     C     
When Old Bill Bailey plays 
       G7  
the Ukalele
C            G7   C    G7C
Down in Hono lulu town.