From the sheet music, which you can see at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Mississippi State University, or the Levy collection.


BILLY. (I ALWAYS DREAM OF BILL.)
Words by Joe Goodwin. Music by [James] Kendis & [Herman] Paley.
New York: Kendis & Paley, ©1911.

1. Behold in me a maiden who is feeling sad,
Yearning for a wedding day.
It's just because I love a man I feel so bad,
Now that he has gone away.
Though I have his picture near,
It can't love and call me dear,
So I confess I'm hungry for some real live love.
How I wish that Bill were here!

CHORUS: For when I walk, I always walk with Billy,
'Cause Billy knows just where to walk;
And when I talk, I always talk with Billy,
'Cause Billy knows just how to talk;
And when I dine, I always dine with Billy.
He takes me where I get my fill;
And when I sleep, and when I sleep,
I always dream of Bill.

2. It seems somehow each man I meet makes eyes at me,
But it only makes me blue;
And though each day a lot of handsome chaps I see,
To my sweetheart I'll be true.
I have kissed his picture till
It no longer looks like Bill.
If he knew what was waiting for him, he'd come home,
Then my heart with joy he'd fill.

- - -
Beth Tate, "The Californian Girl" who performed in the British and Australian music halls, recorded this; her recording appears on "A Night at the Music Hall (Disc C)" (JSP Records, 2006). You can also hear it on Spotify. Her recording consists of only the first verse and chorus, which is repeated. However, on the second chorus, she varies the last 2 lines, and I am unable to understand the last few words.

Obviously, the humor and cleverness of this song rests on the fact that it tantalizes you with the expectation that she will sing "I always sleep with Bill" but in fact, the chorus ends far more innocently. I can't believe that Tate would have spoiled the joke, so I assume her ending is also innocent, but I can't manage to figure out how she did this. She sings: "And when I sleep, I always sleep / With Billy ..." but what comes next? There are 3 syllables. Any help would be appreciated.