He's looking up through painted bars
And he hears a hairy stranger say
"He'll learn to play the violin."
His mother's voice is high and sweet,
He's got her chin and rosy cheeks
And before this birdy leaves the nest
He'll learn to play the violin.

Now his baby shoes are obsolete,
He's growing like an ivy-weed
And every day he hears his father say
"He'll play the violin,
His mother and I won't interfere,
We'll give him room,
Let him steer but we won't be happy
'Til we hear him learn to play the fiddle."

Hey boy, Jim boy, who you lettin' run your life?
Boy, Jim boy, is it what you want to do?
Hey boy, Jim boy, ain't you proud to be a man (son)?
Boy, Jim boy... leave me alone...

So he went to university
'Til he got a law degree
And he kept a vow from years before,
"I'll never play the violin."
He met a girl with rosy cheeks,
She laughed when he would tell a joke
But she left him for another man,
A man who played the violin.

With a broken heart he sells his clothes
And books aboard a leaky ship
To find some peace in a foreign land
And learn to play the violin.
But before you know it the ship goes down
And fish are swimming in his mouth
But he promises the next go 'round
He'll learn to play the violin