Ten Green Bottles - Chords, Lyrics and Origins

Origins

You might not think that a children’s song as ubiquitous and harmless as ‘Ten Green Bottles’ could spark a controversy, but apparently it has.  The rhyme could - possibly - date back to the fourteenth century.  But on the other hand, it could be as recent as the mid-nineteenth century: British policemen of that era were known to criminals as ‘greenbottles’.  Have a look at this amusing article for a discussion about this (and, frankly, a bit of a giggle).  The American song, ’99 bottles of beer’ seems to be a variant of this one.

Chords

CAPO at 4th Fret

C                          G7                   C
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,

C                          F                    C
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,

           F               C                 F                 G7
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

                   C                         G7                   C
There’d be nine green bottles hanging on the wall.





C                            G7                   C
Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,


C                           F                     C
Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,
       
           F               C                   F              G7
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

                   C                          G7                   C
There’d be eight green bottles hanging on the wall.

Lyrics

Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,

Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be nine green bottles hanging on the wall.

Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,

Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be eight green bottles hanging on the wall.

Eight green bottles hanging on the wall,

Eight green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be seven green bottles hanging on the wall.

Seven green bottles hanging on the wall,

Seven green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be six green bottles hanging on the wall.

Six green bottles hanging on the wall,

Six green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be five green bottles hanging on the wall.

Five green bottles hanging on the wall,

Five green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be four green bottles hanging on the wall.

Four green bottles hanging on the wall,

Four green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be three green bottles hanging on the wall.

Three green bottles hanging on the wall,

Three green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be two green bottles hanging on the wall.

Two green bottles hanging on the wall,

Two green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be one green bottles hanging on the wall.

One green bottles hanging on the wall,

One green bottles hanging on the wall,

And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,

There’d be no green bottles hanging on the wall.