D                                                G            D
Bill Bailey belonged to every radical party that ever came to be,
D                                                    A
Till he finally decided to start his own party so he wouldn't disagree.
D                                                           G                           D
He got himself an office with a sign outside the door, with "Marxist League" in letters red,
D                                     A
And to everyone who came around these were the words he said:

[Chorus]
D
"Oh, you may be a friend of Max Shachtman, Jim Cannon and you may agree,
G                                                      D
You may get along with Norman Thomas and with Algernon Lee
D                                  G                     D
You may be an old-time Wobbly, and think Jay Lovestone's fine,
D                                                A                          D
Yes, you may be a comrade to all of these folks, but you ain't no Comrade of mine."

[Verse 2]
D                                                 G               D
For 17 years Bill Bailey kept his office with the sign outside the door,
D                                    A
But he never, ever got a new member. Everybody made him sore.
D                                             G                     D
And then one night, there came a big fire and through the flame and smoke,
D                                                   A
As the firemen rushed in to save Bill's life, these were the words he spoke:

[Chorus]
D
"Oh, you may be a friend of Ben Gitlow; Reverend Muste and you may agree,
G                                                    D
You may get along with Emma Goldman and with the S.L.P..
D                                                 G          D
You may have belonged to every radical party that ever had a line,
D                                                A                          D
Yes, you may be a comrade to all of those folks, but you ain't no comrade of mine."

[Verse 3]
D                                                    G                  D
And so on this day, Bill Bailey passed away, and his soul to Red Heaven flew.
D                                       A
He was met at the gate by old Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels(13), too.
D                                                         G                D
They said, "Welcome, comrade," as they opened the gate to let Bill come inside,
D                                                     A
As he slammed the door back in old Karl's face, these were the words he cried:

D
"Oh, you may be a friend of Karl Kautsky, and a pal of Ferd LaSalle,
G                                                                  D
You may get along with William Liebknecht and the First Internationale,
D                                                       G             D
Yes, you may have inspired every radical party from the Hudson to the Rhine,
D                                                A                         D
Oh, you may be a comrade of all of those folks, but you ain't no comrade of mine."