O'Rafferty's Motor Car Lyrics And Guitar Chords

Written by Tommie and recorded by Val Doonican. The chords here are the one's that are used in the youtube video by Val Doonican. There's a key change half way through the song. If the chords that are used in the key change don't suit you then continue to play in the key of D.

Intro. chord A
Now [D]Dinny O'Rafferty's motor car
Is the [E]greatest I de[A]clare
It's [D]made up of bits and [A]pieces
That he's [B]picked up here and [E]there
The [D]engine must be ages old
But it's [E]still got lots of power
With a [A]gallon of stout in the petrol tank
It does [E]ninety miles an hour

[A]What a wonderful motor car
It's the [E]greatest ever seen
It [D]used to be black as me [B]father's hat
Now it's forty shades of [E]green
On [D]TV and the [E]radio
And in every public [A]bar
The burning question of the day
Is O'[E]Rafferty's motor [A]car

Music break chords
Eb B A

Now [D]two of the wheels are triangular
And the [E]third one's off a [A]pram
The [D]fourth is the last re[A]maining wheel
From [B]off a Dublin [E]tram
The [D]number plate's in Gaelic
And the [E]plug's won't even [A]spark
And the chassis came off a [D]tinker's cart
That col[E]lapsed in Phoenix Park


Now [D]go for a ride in that motor car
And you'll [E]end up with the [A]shakes
The [D]road from Cork to Dublin
Is a [B]vale of pains and aches
When [D]traffic lights turn red ahead
Then you'd [E]best jump out the door
For the [A]moment that Dinny treads [E]on the break
Then his foot goes through the [A]floor

[Key change here is optional]

Now [Eb]if you could see the upholstery
Then your [F]eyes would start to [Bb]pop
It's nothing but empty beer crates
With a [F]load of sacks on top
The [Eb]windscreen's gone to [Gm]Lord knows where
And there's [F]mothballs in the [Bb]horn
And I reckon he'd only get [Eb]half a quid
If he [F]took it to the [Eb]pawn


Now[Eb] Dinny was driving a[Bb]round last week
When the [F]engine did the [Bb]splits
It [Eb]went up in smoke and [Bb]nearly blew
O'[Cm]Connell Street to [F]bits
They [Cm]searched around for [Gm]Dinny and found
That he'd [F]landed up by [Bb]heck
Away on top of the [F]GPO
With his L-plates round his neck

[Bb]What a wonderful motor car
It's the [F]greatest ever [Bb]seen
It [Eb]used to be black as me father's hat
Now it's [Cm]forty shades of [F]green
On [Cm]TV and the [Bb]radio
And in [F]every public[Bb] bar
The [E]burning question [Bb]of the day
Is O'[F]Rafferty's motor[Bb]car

Here's another version in the key of G.


Now [C]Dinny O'Rafferty's motor car
Is the [D]greatest I de[G]clare
It's [C]made up of bits and [G]pieces
That he's [A]picked up here and [D]there
The [C]engine must be ages old
But it's [D]still got lots of power
With a [G]gallon of stout in the petrol tank
It does [D]ninety miles an hour

[G]What a wonderful motor car
It's the [D]greatest ever seen
It [C]used to be black as me [A]father's hat
Now it's forty shades of [D]green
On [C]TV and the [D]radio
And in every public [G]bar
The burning question of the day
Is O'[D]Rafferty's motor [G]car