Oh, dis is de day we pick on de banjo,
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!

Oh, day banjo, dat tal-la-tal-la-wan-go,
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!

Oh, dat banjo, dat seben-string banjo,
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!

Ah was only one an' twenty,
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!

Ah was sent to school fer to be a scholar!
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!

Mah collar was stiff, an' Ah could not swaller.
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!

Oh, dere's mah book, down on de table,
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!

An' you kin read it if you're able!
Ch: Dance, gal, gimme de banjo!


From Songs of the Sailor and Lumberman by William Main Doerflinger (1951, '72, '91)