STEAMBOAT BILL
Words, Ren Shields; music, Leighton Bros.
New York: F.A. Mills, copyright 1910

1. Down the Mississippi steamed the Whippoorwill,
Commanded by the pilot, Mister Steamboat Bill.
The owners gave him orders on the strict QT
To try to beat the record of the Robert E. Lee.
"Just speed up your fire; 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 at the Golden Gate."

CHORUS 1: Oh, Steamboat Bill, steamin' down the Mississippi,
Steamboat Bill, a mighty man was he.
Oh, Steamboat Bill, steamin' down the Mississippi,
Gonna beat the record of the Robert E. Lee.

2. Up then stepped a gambling man from Louisville
Who tried to get a bet against the Whippoorwill.
Billy flashed a roll that surely was 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 and neck."
Said Billy to the gambler, "I'll tell you what I'll do:
I'll bet another thousand I'll go higher than you!"

CHORUS 2: Oh, Steamboat Bill, he tore up the Mississippi.
Oh, Steamboat Bill, the tide it made him swear.
Oh, Steamboat Bill, he tore up the Mississippi.
An explosion of the boiler got him up in the air!

3. The river's all in mourning now for Steamboat Bill.
No more you'll hear the puffing of the Whippoorwill.
There's crepe 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.
Said she to the children, "Bless each honey lamb,
The next papa that you have'll be a railroad man!"

CHORUS 3: Oh, Steamboat Bill, missing on the Mississippi,
Oh, Steamboat Bill is with an angel band.
Oh, Steamboat Bill, missing on the Mississippi,
He's a pilot on a ferry in the Promised Land!