Joe Dolan

Westmeath Bachelor

Joe Dolan


Tom: C

C                       C               F          C
Oh, I am a Westmeath bachelor and my age is sixty-three,
        G7                           C
I don't intend to marry or to raise a family.
C                     C         F                C
I'm happy and contented just to lead a single life,
        G7                                 C
And that's the reason why I don't intend to take a wife.


[Chorus]
C                       C               F               C
With the red stuff on her finger-nails and varnish on her toes,
        G7                                      C
The red around her auld visage and the whitewash on her nose,
C                      C                F               C
She can get a fancy barber to shave her neck and head,
        G7                                      C
And that's why I'm a bachelor and I don't intend to wed.


[Verse]
C                       C               F          C
Last Thursday at the market in the town of Mullingar.
        G7                           C
A friend, he introduced me to a famous movie star.
C                      C                F                C
She'd was married several times before to men of every creed,
        G7                                 C
And she thought she had found a sucker in the bachelor from Westmeath.


[Chorus]
C                       C               F               C
With the red stuff on her fingernails and the varnish on her toes,
        G7                                      C
The red around her auld visage and the whitewash on her nose,
C                      C                F               C
She can get a fancy barber to shave her neck and head,
        G7                                      C
Sure that's why I'm a bachelor and don't intend to wed.


[Verse]
C                       C               F          C
Now, I'm living with me brother and his little cat and dog
        G7                           C
I'm earning seven and six a week, a-working on the bog
C                      C                F               C
Why should I change this life of ease for one of struggle and strife
        G7                              C
And that's the reason why I never took a wife.


[Chorus]
C                       C               F               C
With the red stuff on her fingernails and the varnish on her toes,
        G7                           C
The red around her auld visage and the whitewash on her nose,
C                      C                F               C
She can get a fancy barber to shave her neck and head,
        G7                                      C
Sure that's why I'm a bachelor and don't intend to wed.