Oh, me name is MacNamara, I'm the leader of the band

Although we're few in numbers, we're the finest in the land

We play at wakes and weddings and at every fancy ball

And when we play the funerals, we play the March from Saul



Oh, the drums go bang and the cymbals clang and the horns they blaze away

McCarthy pumps the old bassoon while I the pipes do play

And Henessee Tennessee tootles the flute and the music is somethin' grand

A credit to old Ireland is MacNamara's band



Right now we are rehearsin' for a very swell affair

The annual celebration, all the gentry will be there

When General Grant to Ireland came he took me by the hand

Says he, "I never saw the likes of MacNamara's Band"



Oh, the drums go bang and the cymbals clang and the horns they blaze away

McCarthy pumps the old bassoon while I the pipes do play

And Henessee Tennessee tootles the flute and the music is somethin' grand

A credit to old Ireland is MacNamara's band



Oh, my name is Uncle Julius and from Sweden I did come

To play with MacNamara's Band and beat the big bass drum

And when I march along the street the ladies think I'm grand

They shout, "There's Uncle Julius playin' with an Irish band!"



Oh, I wear a bunch of shamrocks and a uniform of green

And I'm the funniest lookin' Swede that you have ever seen

There is O'Brians, O'Ryans, O'Sheehans and Meehans, they come from Ireland

But, by yimminy, I'm the only Swede in MacNamara's Band



Oh, the drums go bang and the cymbals clang and the horns they blaze away

McCarthy pumps the old bassoon while I the pipes do play

And Henessee Tennessee tootles the flute and the music is somethin' grand

A credit to old Ireland is MacNamara's band



That's MacNamara