Mr. Bib’s Saorstat Star Time
Transpose
INTRO (x4)
C
Gsus4
G7
VERSE 1
Am
“This fool is your
F9
father”
Dm
She held up the baby to
F7/D#
see
Am
Her pretty red ringlets now
F9
dull as her eyes
In a
Dm
room semi-rented, in a
F7/D#
state born to lie
C
Gsus4
G7
VERSE 2
Am
Mr. Bib is from
F9
Breslau
His
Dm
name was truncated at
F7/D#
sea
Am
His hands are unsteady, he
F9
stands
bashfully
To
Dm
Ireland he came in nine
F7/D#
teen-thirty-three
And the
Ab
crowds in white shirtsleeves and
Gm
sad floral prints
F
Pay out their pence and their
Eb
shillings
The
Ab
secular glamour makes
Gm
aldermen
flinch
He’s the
F
midwife at stardom’s be
Gm
ginnings
Eb
Cm7
Ab7
CHORUS 1
F
Tenors and
Cm
acrobats,
Ebmaj7/D
step-dancers,
Ab
mimes
F
Mr. Bib’s
Cm
Saorstát
Gm
Star Time
Dm
F
Beauty-queens,
Cm
strongmen,
five-
Ebmaj7/D
girl chorus
Ab
lines
F
Mr. Bib’s
Cm
wagon of
Gm
sunshine
Dm
VERSE 3
Am
We might picture what
F9
happened
In his
Dm
digs in Bundoran one
F7/D#
June
which has
Am
left him now red-faced in
F9
Youghal by the sea
As his
Dm
firstborn commences to
F7/D#
wail
mournfully
“Be
Ab
quiet, the both of you,
Gm
why must you gripe?
Your
F
bellies are full, why be
Eb
bitter?”
She
Ab
said, “I’m worth better, you
Gm
cringing wee shite”
So he
F
picks up the poker to
Gm
hit her
Eb
Cm7
Ab7
CHORUS 2
The
F
big
disap
Cm
pearance on
Ebmaj7/D
everyone’s
Ab
lips
F
Mr. Bib’s
Cm
Saorstát
Gm
Star Time
Dm
F
Off to the
Cm
boat train in
Ebmaj7/D
disguise he
Ab
slips
F
Mr. Bib,
Cm
still making
Gm
headlines
Dm
Gm
Dm
INTERLUDE
A
Gm
man with a ba
Dm
by
Gm
Refugees,
may
Dm
be
On
Gm
Holyhead Pier
Dm
in the
F7/D#
rain
A
Gm
man who is shame
Dm
less
Need
Gm
never go state
Dm
less
In
Gm
Silesia
Dm
or in
Eb
Spai
Cm7
n
VERSE 4
Am
Muswell Hill, nineteen-
F9
sixty
Dm
Brady’s the name at this
F7/D#
time
He’s
Am
vague on the details but
F9
nobody
minds
They’ve
Dm
tears of their own which they
F7/D#
drink ’til they’re blind
And there are
Ab
always new drinkers, more
Gm
gone than the last
F
Each with disasters un
Eb
finished
As if
Ab
launched from their homeland to
Gm
bolster and craft
The
F
suffering of the
Gm
English
Eb
Cm7
Ab7
F
Radio
Cm
Éireann and
Ebmaj7/D
the Sunday
Ab
Press
More
F
Mr. Bib’s
Cm
Saorstát
Gm
Star Time
Dm
‘cos it’s
F
wholesome and
Cm
cultured, with a
Ebmaj7/D
small hint of
Ab
sex
F
Mr. Bib’s
Cm
Saorstát
Gm
Star Time
Dm
The
F
Anglian
Cm
coastline in e
Ebmaj7/D
rosion’s dead
Ab
hold
F
Gives up its
Cm
secrets for
Gm
pennies
Dm
A
F
smashed clifftop
Cm
hotel, Ark
Ebmaj7/D
of North Sea
Ab
Scrolls
Of
F
terse, bizarre
Cm
sagas, he
Gm
rea
Gsus2
ds
Gm
many