Four or five years ago, someone gave me a banjo
And I thought, if I can play this, I'll be a happy man.
So I practiced every single day, and I've come a long way
I used to couldn't play a note, now I can.
Yep.
That one.

You can go to university and get a music degree a
And learn everything about music there is to know.
But if you can't write and you can't read,
You just practice till your fingers bleed
Then you get a B-A-N-J-O.

B-A-N-J-O, B-A-N-J-O, B-A-N-J-O.
You get a banjo.
You can spell it too.
Yep.

Some people say: "it's silly. Banjo's just hillbilly music
Played by someone who's married to his cousin."
Mark Twain was no banjo fan. He said a gentleman
Is someone who can't play the banjo, but doesn't

When you see something done well, it looks easy and it's hard to tell
Simple things can be hard to master.
Well, the fact is, you need a tip or two
like "don't stand up in a canoe"
and "when you hear a banjo - paddle faster."

Banjo has a history that goes back through minstrelsy
To the southern states at the time of the secession
Before they invented the tone ring and the finger picks
And the fifth string and the dribbling and the vacant expression.

I was not born in the USA, but I play my banjo anyway
Because it prevents me from becoming too bluish.
And I know if I practice for a while, I could play almost any style
Maybe even ... something Jewish.

Hava Nagila