Lyrics Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Beat Me, Daddy, Eight to the Bar

In a little honky-tonky village in Texas

There's a guy who plays the best piano by far

He can play piano any way that you like it

But the way he likes to play is eight to the bar

When he plays, it's a ball

He's the daddy of them all

The people gather around when he gets on the stand

Then when he plays, he gets a hand

The rhythm he beats puts the cats in a trance

Nobody there bothers to dance

But when he plays with the bass and guitar

They holler out, "Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar"

A-plink, a-plank, a-plink plank, plink plank

A-plunkin' on the keys

A-riff, a-raff, a-riff raff, riff raff

A-riffin' out with ease

And when he plays with the bass and guitar

They holler out, "Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar"

He plays a boogie, he plays eight to the bar

A boogie-woogie, that is the way he likes to play on his piano

And we all know

That when he plays he puts them all in a trance

The cats all holler "Hooray"

You'll hear them say, "Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar"

In a little honky-tonky village in Texas

There's a guy who plays the best piano by far

When he plays with the bass and guitar

They holler, "Beat me up Daddy, beat me Daddy, eight to the bar"

The people gather around when he gets up on the stand

Then when he plays, he gets a hand

The rhythm that he plays puts the cats in a trance

Nobody there ever bothers to dance

But when he plays with the bass and guitar

They holler out, "Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar"

A-plink plink, a-plank plank, a-plink plank, plink plank

A-plunkin' on the keys

A-riff riff, a-raff raff, a-riff raff, riff raff

A-riffin' out with ease

But when he plays with the bass and guitar

They holler out, "Beat me Daddy, eight to the bar"