Williams, Andy - The Bilbao Song Lyrics






That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all

No paint was on the door (no paint was on the door)
The grass grew through the floor (the grass grew through the floor)
Of Tony's Two By Four (of Tony's Two By Four)
On the Bilbao shore (on the Bilbao shore)
But there were friends galore (howdy do, howdy do)
And there was beer to pour (chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug)
And moonlight on the shore (and the moon shines above)
That old Bilbao shore (on the shore, not the floor)
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all

That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all





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Williams, Andy The Bilbao Song Comments
  1. A.... ....

    ¿por quE? bro

  2. K.... L....

    I too thought it was 'That old Bill Bowel Moon'. AM radio not always coming in good back then. I always wondered....who Bill was?!

  3. B.... S....

    I toured with Andy Williams back in 1976-77.....somewhere around there. He had a great voice, not like any other I ever worked with. A very insecure man who didn't like his audience too much, he always said to me that he wished he had Neil Diamond's audience; younger, more hip, as he used to say. We smoked weed together quite often. Nice guy though, all things considered.

  4. T.... G....

    I was 10 years old when I first heard this song, and I loved Nabisco cookies at this age. I used to believe Andy sung "Lorna Doone" somewhere in those lyrics. Therefore I remember this song well. Thanks for posting this neat video Richard L.

  5. f.... ....

    For decades I thought this was that old Bill bowel moon!

  6. D.... M....

    That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
    That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
    That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
    While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
    We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
    Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
    Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
    Those were the greatest nights of them all

    No paint was on the door (no paint was on the door)
    The grass grew through the floor (the grass grew through the floor)
    Of Tony's Two By Four (of Tony's Two By Four)
    On the Bilbao shore (on the Bilbao shore)
    But there were friends galore (howdy do, howdy do)
    And there was beer to pour (chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug)
    And moonlight on the shore (and the moon shines above)
    That old Bilbao shore (on the shore, not the floor)
    We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
    Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
    Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
    Those were the greatest nights of them all

    Those old Bilbao guys, They loved to harmonize,
    Who stopped to realize How fast the summer flies!
    The moon was on the rise, We'd catch the ladies' eyes
    And whisper Spanish lies, They never did get wise.
    We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
    Those were the greatest
    Those were the greatest
    Those were the greatest nights of them all

    That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
    That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
    That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
    While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
    We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
    Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
    Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
    Those were the greatest nights of them all

  7. �.... ....

    Thank you, so much !

  8. 7.... ....

    I thought it was always "That Old Bill Bowel Moon".

  9. J.... S....

    I bought the record of this.

  10. j.... s....

    loved this tune. although thought the title was Bill Bower moon

  11. g.... w....

    love this song, but allways thought the title was different, it sounds like Bill Bower

  12. C.... E....

    In Bilbao right now, Bilbo, Bizkaia. ...

    C.... E....

    Yesss, sir :)

  13. D.... M....

    My smarty-aleck older brother sang,. "That old Bill Bowell movement..."

  14. J.... N....

    This song is from "Happy End"; a musical written in the 20s by the beautiful Berthold Brecht, a communist! Music by the famed Kurt Weill. Premiered in berlin in 1929.

  15. s.... g....

    I had barely turned 11 when this song came out. In 1961, listening to this on our old, tube-type AM kitchen radio with a 4" speaker I thought Andy was saying 'bowel movement'. My Parents just laughed when asked but never clarified what lyrics Andy was actually singing. Anyway, Pat Boone's Moody River came out this year also and the lyrics were much more clear to me.

    s.... g....

    You were 11....I was 16 and we shared similar confusion over the lyrics, although I was (am) in Australia and this was in the Top Forty down here.

    s.... g....

    Hey Bruce: I guess we have similar tastes in music. This song was popular here but I am not sure if it was 'top 40'. I did not start to listen to music more seriously and actually buy records until I was 12 in 1962 - my first 45 was Suspicion by Terry Stafford and then California Sun by the Rivieras. Then, of course, the Beatles exploded onto the scene here in the States in early 1963 and I bought just about every record of theirs for the next 5 - 6 years.

    s.... g....

    I heard it that year, too.

    s.... g....

    Of course not, much later. I heard this in 1961.

    The most authentic version of this is sung by Kurt Weill's wife and muse, Lotte Lenya.

    s.... g....

    My older brother thought the same way. He would sing, "That old Bill Bowel Movement..." :D

  16. T.... K....

    Andy Williams was originally from Cincinnati in a community called Cheviot, a neighboring community to where I live, West Price Hill.

    T.... K....

    Wrong. Andy Williams was born December 3, 1927, in the small town of Wall Lake, Iowa. The family moved to Cheviot, Ohio, where he attended Western Hills High School in Cincinnati. But the family moved to California where he graduated from University High School in West Los Angeles.

    T.... K....

    like I said he was from Cheviot in Cincinnati, I never said he was born here!

  17. J.... C....

    irateofwatford should take it up with Johnny Mercer, one of the greatest lyricists of all time, who put the english language lyrics to this song. 

  18. F.... M....

    Love reading irateofwatford soil their pink thong over this version.

  19. 5.... ....

    Love this recording from my childhood!  This is Andy Williams at his best...

    5.... ....

    I liked the song even tho I was only 11 back in '61. Andy Williams was considered for 'old fossils' to listen to, like my Grandmother, who loved him. Obviously I have not forgotten the song - here I am listening to it more than 55 years later!

    5.... ....

    Yes, Steve, I always enjoyed hearing this song when young and still do.  I, too, was 11 in 1961!  Be sure to listen to Andy Williams' recording of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" -- *beautiful"!

    5.... ....

    Yes this is Andy at his best!

  20. P.... D....

    for years I thought that it was the "Bill Bower" moon and wondered who Bill was!

    P.... D....

    Phyllis Darling, I thought it was Bill Bill Bowder! LOL

    P.... D....

    me too. always wondered if there is a story about the title

    P.... D....

    I was looking for the "that old Bill Bowell moon" song - and it's been 60 years. I had to apologize to my daughter for her "Paddy O'Lanterns" lyrocosis episode.

    P.... D....

    As a kid I thought it was Bill Bowel moon

  21. M.... ....

    I heard Liza Minnelli do this song with "September Song" in San  Francisco 1980..One of the best ever and she never did it again. Those were the greatest nights of them all. thanks for this!

  22. i.... ....

    WTF!!?? Talk about missing the point! This is the cheesiest, most twee, most gormless rendition of this song in the history of this planet! Brecht and Weill (they composed this song; Germans you know) must be rotating in their graves. (The "Bilbao" of the musical play "Happy End" bears no relation to the Basque city of that name.)

    i.... ....

    irateofwatford. You are absolutely correct but something tells me Lenya did not refuse the royalties!
    I first heard this on a quite good oldies station and thought I'd been bopped on the head.

  23. D.... H....

    I can listen to this song over and over again...I love it.

  24. L.... N....

    BTW Bilbao used to be a manufacturing center for high-quality cutlery.

  25. J.... B....

    Look up, "Andy Williams, the Cadence Years." His first label, I think. Before the Columbia contract. Lots of his early hits.

  26. C.... ....

    Thanks for the correction. Always eager to learn. I had a neighbor when I was very young, a Mr. Lopez, who was an incredibly nice man and a proud Basque.

  27. A.... W....

    obligatory this song is a 1000000 times better than the crap on the radio today comment

  28. R.... L....

    I saw a "Best Of " CD of Andy Williams at CD Universe that has it on it...$15.

  29. R.... ....

    Does this song appear on any Andy Williams CD available today from Amazon or elsewhere?

  30. R.... L....

    Thanks for adding this information ; it should be of interest for future listeners who take the time to look at comments. Thanks !
    Richard.

  31. M.... M....

    It was released in 1961 and it was his last single for Cadence. After he left the label, he went over to the Columbia label and released a series of albums for the next 15 years. Andy's first single on the Columbia label was "Moon River" in 1962.

  32. J.... ....

    It is from the musical 'Happy End', with a score by Kurt Julian Weil and (I think) Berthold Brecht.

    J.... ....

    You are correct, it was Brecht

  33. S.... P....

    First heard this cute song as a child in the 50s at my grandma's house

  34. J.... t....

    Love it! The great Andy Williams <3

  35. R.... L....

    An "oldie" but a "goodie" from my childhood. Thanks for commenting.
    Richard.

  36. R.... L....

    You're welcome ! Thanks for your comments.
    Richard.

  37. C.... ....

    There certainly weren't 36 better songs.

  38. C.... ....

    Wonderful song. Thanks so much for posting. This song has great rhythm. Bilbao is the capital city of the Spanish Basque country.

    C.... ....

    Bilbao is not the capital city of the Basque Country. It is the biggest city, but the capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz.

    C.... ....

    @ferbilbao vitoria=puta mierda burgalavesa

  39. g.... ....

    Love this song.It only reached #37 in 1961.

  40. M.... S....

    I haven't heard this one in quite awhile.

  41. d.... ....

    FOR ANDY, ALL Prayer`s Go Out & In. Oh how we miss His Kraft Season Show`s of Thanksgiving & Christmas ! The Fall Color`s make Me want a Caramelled Apple, Plus+ WE Only think of HIM & the True Family TV He Gave so Well to this World ! GOD Bless YOU ANDY You ARe DEEP in Our Heart`s,Pure USA Clean .

  42. J.... ....

    @B17bomberB17 Great song written by Kurt Weill for the musical 'Happy End'.

    Please pray for Mr. Williams--He has been diagnosed with bladder cancer.

  43. g.... f....

    Like B17Bomber I have been looking for this song - one of my favourites whose name I constantly mis-spelt and never located until this summer - and summer is the season I most related it too. Great song!

  44. R.... L....

    @B17bomberB17...Glad you found it again.. thanks for commenting.
    Richard.

  45. B.... ....

    I heard this song on the radio 50 years ago when I was a kid and have never forgotten it. Has a great beat to it. Not one of Andy's biggest hits, but one of my favorite Andy Williams songs.