O'Brien Is Tryin' To Learn To Talk Hawaiian
Words by Al Dubin
Music by Rennie Cormack
Published 1916

Pat O'Brien after buyin' a ticket for the Sandwhich Isles,
His face all full of smiles,
And after many trials;
Paddy landed then meandered where the Hula maidens sway,
Oh he met a Hula dancer down beside Hawaii Bay
She won his heart away,
And I heard the other day:

[chorus]
O'Brien is tryin' to learn to talk Hawaiian
To his Honolulu Lou,
He's sighin' and cryin' and all the time he's tryin'
Just to say "I love you true"
With his "Arrah Yaka Hula Begorra Hicki Dula"
And his Irish "Ji-ji boo"
Sure, O'Brien is tryin' to learn to talk Hawaiian
To his Honolulu Lou.

Paddy's yearnin' to be learnin' to play the Ukalele, too,
For his Honolulu Lou,
Like all Hawaiians do
Paddy's dancer doesn't answer when he starts to talk and shout,
For when Paddy talks Hawaiian no one knows what it's about,
If his wife only knew,
He'd be in an Irish stew

[chorus]
O'Brien is tryin' to learn to talk Hawaiian
To his Honolulu Lou,
He's sighin' and lyin' in Irish and Hawaiin
To his wife and Lulu Too;
Whe he writes a lot of blarney to Katie in Kilarney
And she thinks that he is true,
Sure, O'Brien is tryin' to learn to talk Hawaiian
To his Honolulu Lou.

Paddy likes Hawaiian music because its such a novelty,
He thinks the harmony
Is sweet as it can be.
If he tries to he'll get wise to all the melodies he's heard,
And he knows some tunes already but he doesn't know a word.
Hawaiian's hard to get
With an Irish alphabet.

[chorus]
O'Brien is tryin' to learn to talk Hawaiian
To his Honolulu Lou,
He's sighin' and cryin' and all the time he's trying
Just to say "I love you true"
He won Bridget, Kate and Mary by singing "Tipperary,"
And he'll win his Lulu too,
For O'Brien is tryin' to learn to talk Hawaiian
To his Honolulu Lou.