The Ballad of Booth

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States
Abraham Lincoln!

Sic Semper Tyrannis!

Someone tell the story
Someone sing the song
Every now and then
The country
Goes a little wrong
Every now and then
A madman's
Bound to come along
Doesn't stop the story
Story's pretty strong
Doesn't change the song

Johnny Booth was a handsome devil
Got up in his rings and fancy silks
Had him a temper
But kept it level
Everybody called him Wilkes

Why did you do it, Johnny?
Nobody agrees
You, who had everything
What made you bring
A nation to its knees?
Some say it was your voice had gone
Some say it was booze
Some say you killed a country, John
Because of bad reviews

Johnny lived with a grace and glitter
Kinda like the lives he lived onstage
Died in a barn in pain and bitter
27 years of age

Why did you do it, Johnny?
Throw it all away
Why did you do it, boy?
Not just destroy
The pride and joy of Illinois
But all the USA
Your brother made you jealous, John
You couldn't fill his shoes
Was that the reason?
Tell us, John
Along with bad reviews

Damn!

They're coming
They'll be here any minute!

I need your help, Davey

I got a horse
If we can get across the river...

I've got to write this
I can't hold the pen

Johnny, they found us
We gotta get out of here

No, not 'til I finish this

Johnny-

No!

Have you seen the papers?
Do you know what they callin' me?
A common cutthroat
A hired assassin
This one says I'm mad

We must have been mad
To think we could kill the President
And get away with it

We did get away with it
He was a bloody tyrant
And we brought him down
And I will not have history
Think I did it for a bag of gold
Or in some kind of rabid fit

Johnny, we have to go

No, I have to make my case
I need you to take it down

We don't have time!

Take it down
An indictment
Of the former President of the United States
Abraham Lincoln
Who is herein charged
With the following High Crimes and Misdemeanors

They say your ship was sinkin', John

One
That you did ruthlessly provoke a war between the States
Which cost some 600.000 of my contrymen their lives
Two-

You'd started missing cues

Two
That you did silence your critics in the north
By hurling them into prison
Without benefit of charge or trial
Three-

They say it wasn't Lincoln, John

Shut up
Three-

You'd merely had a slew of bad reviews

I said, shut up!

What are we gonna do?

We are gonna finish this
Now, three-

Booth!
We got 50 soldiers out here, Booth
Give yourself up
Or we'll set fire to the barn

Don't shoot!
I'm coming out

No, no!
I have given up my life for one act
Do you understand?
Do not let history rob me of its meaning
Pass on the truth
You're the only one who can
Please?

He said, "damn you, Lincoln
You had your way (tell 'em, boy)
With blood you drew out
Of blue and gray" (tell them more)

Tell them 'til they listen

He said, "damn you, Lincoln
And damn the day
You threw the U out of USA"
He said-

Hunt me down
Smear my name
Say I did it for the fame
What I did was kill the man who killed my country
Now the south land will mend
Now this bloody war can end
Because someone slew the tyrant
Just as Brutus slew the tyrant!

He said, "damn you, Lincoln
You righteous whore! (tell 'em, tell 'em what he did)
You turned your spite into civil war (tell 'em, tell 'em the truth)
And more" (tell 'em all, tell 'em how it happened!)

How the end doesn't mean that it's over
How surrender is not the end
Tell 'em
How the country is not where it was
Where there's blood in the clover
How the nation can never again
Be the hope that it was
How the bruises may never be healed
How the wounds are forever
How we gave up the field
But we still wouldn't yield
How the Union can never recover
From that vulgar
High and mighty
Nigger-lover
Never
Never
Never
Never
The country is not what it was

Damn my soul if you must
Let my body turn to dust
Let it mingle with the ashes of the country
Let them curse me to hell
Leave it to history to tell
What I did, I did well
And I did it for my country
Let them cry, "dirty traitor!"
They will understand it later
The country is not what it was!

Johnny Booth was a headstrong fella
Even he believed the things he said
Some called him noble
Some said, yellow
What he was was off his head
How could you do it, Johnny?
Calling it a cause
You left a legacy of butchery
And treason we took eagerly
And thought you'd get applause
But traitors just get jeers and boos
Not visits to their graves
While Lincoln, who got mixed reviews
Because of you, John
Now gets only raves

Damn you, Johnny
You paved the way
For other madmen to make us pay
Lots of madmen have had their say
But only for a day

Listen to the stories
Hear it in the songs
Angry men don't write the rules
And guns don't right the wrongs
Hurts a while but soon
The country's back where it belongs
And that's the truth
Still and all
Damn you, Booth!