A gentle man's
got a walking stick,
a seaman's got a cap,
and the merry men of Robin Hood,
they use the quarterstaff.
On the Spanish plains,
inside the caves,
they hide their ruddy swords,
but we make do with an old bamboo
and every one of us.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
The old bamboo, the old bamboo
You'd better never bother
with the old bamboo
You can have the hat or
the bumbler's shoe
But you'd better never bother
with the old bamboo
A bundling on the beautiful stems
You use a sturdy pole
To protect their bare complexions
Ladies use a parasol
And it's youthful in the underbrush
To have a hefty spear
But what we do with our old bamboo
Makes everybody cheer
Yeah!
Five, six, seven, eight
Nine, ten, eleven, twelve
The old bamboo, the old bamboo
You'd better never bother
with the old bamboo
You can have the hat or the bumper shoe
But you'd better never bother
with the old bamboo
A flyer in an aeroplane
He steers it with a pick
On fire in the pits of Whaley,
lean upon his pick
Now every wheel of an automobile
revolves around the shaft
But what we do with an old bamboo
makes everybody daft
Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen,
seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty
The old bamboo, the old bamboo
You'd better never bother
with the old bamboo
You can have the hat or the
bumper shoe
But you'd better never bother
with the old bamboo
The old bamboo, the old bamboo
You'd better never bother with me,
old man Bo
You can have me, Adam,
if I'm pursued
But you'd better never bother with
Better never bother with
Never bother with me, old man Bo
Never!