My son this news is quite a shock
I'm told you've done a runner
I suppose it's all the same to you
If your family goes under

Oh father dearest father
Vienna called to me
And all in all I'd rather
Be here than in the bishopry
Oh father Â…

So now you do betray me
The father that you love
Well may you be forgiven
By a God above
So you left your job in Salzburg
Not content to run a choir
Not content with an honest buck
To see your heart's desire

Oh father dearest father
Now I play to the Kaiser
I'm wealthy and I'm wiser
Oh father father Â…

So you do betray me
The father that you love
Well may you be forgiven
By a God above
And if that was not enough
To cause your father's heart to break
Well now I hear you've set up house
With that nest of Weber snakes

Oh father dearest father
How my loins do yearn
And St.Paul tells us it's better
That we marry than we burn
So father Â…

So now you do betray me
The father that you love
Well may you be forgiven
By a God above
Oh father

Amen