Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
My father he was orange and my mother she was green
Oh my father was an Ulsterman, a Protestant was he
My mother was a Catholic, from County Cork was she
They were married in two churches, lived happily enough
Until the day that I was born and things got rather tough
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
My father he was orange and my mother she was green
Baptised by father Reilly, and rushed away by car
To become a little orange lad, my father's shining star
I was christened David Anthony, but still in spite of that
To my father I was Billy while my mother called me Pat
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
My father he was orange and my mother she was green
With my mother every Sunday to mass I'd proudly stroll
And later on the orange lodge would try and save my soul
Both sides they tried to claim me, but I was smart because
I played the flute or played the harp, depending where I was
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
My father he was orange and my mother she was green
And now when I'd sing those rebel songs 'twould still my mother's joy,
My father would jump up and say "Look here now, Billy-boy,
I've had enough of that stuff!", he'd be tossing me a coin,
And he'd have me sing "The Orange Flute" and "The Heroes of the Boyne"
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
My father he was orange and my mother she was green
Well my parents they would not agree about my kind of school
My learning was all done at home, no wonder I'm a fool
They both passed on, god rest them, but left me caught between
That awful color problem of the orange and the green
It is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
My father he was orange and my mother she was green
It is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
My father he was orange and my mother she was green