Have you heard about the big strong man?
He lived in a caravan
Have you heard about the Jeffrey Johnson fight?
Oh, Lord what a hell of a fight
You can take all of the heavyweights you’ve got
We’ve got a lad that can beat the whole lot
He used to ring bells in the belfry
Now he’s gonna fight Jack Demspey
That was my brother Sylvest' (What's he got?)
A row of forty medals on his chest (big chest!)
He killed fifty bad men in the west; he knows no rest
Think of a man, hells' fire, don’t push, just shove
Plenty of room for you and me
He’s got an arm like a leg (a ladies' leg!)
And a punch that would sink a battleship (big ship!)
It takes all of the Army and the Navy to put the wind up Sylvest'
Now, he thought he’d take a trip to Italy
He thought that he’d go by sea
He dove off the harbor in New York
And swam like a great big shark
He saw the Lusitania in distress
He put the Lusitania on his chest
He drank all of the water in the sea
And he walked all the way to Italy
That was my brother Sylvest' (What's he got?)
A row of forty medals on his chest (big chest!)
He killed fifty bad men in the west; he knows no rest
Think of a man, hells' fire, don’t push, just shove
Plenty of room for you and me
He’s got an arm like a leg (a ladies' leg!)
And a punch that would sink a battleship (big ship!)
It takes all of the Army and the Navy to put the wind up Sylvest'
He thought he take a trip to old Japan
They turned out a big brass band
You can take all of the instruments you’ve got
We got a lad that can play the whole lot
And the old church bells will ring (Hells bells!)
The old church choir will sing (Hells fire!)
They all turned out to say farewell to my big brother Sylvest'