The Gun Song / The Ballad of Czolgosz

It takes a lot of men to make a gun,
Hundreds,
Many men to make a gun:

Men in the mines
To dig the iron,
Men in the mills
To forge the steel,
Men at machines
To turn the barrel,
Mold the trigger,
Shape the wheel-
It takes a lot of men to make a gun...
One gun...

And all you have to do
Is move your little finger,
Move your little finger and-
You can change the world.

Why should you be blue
When you've your little finger?
Prove how just a little finger
Can change the world.

I hate this gun...

What a wonder is a gun!
What a versatile invention!
First of all, when you've a gun-
Everybody pays attention.

When you think what must be done,
Think of all that it can do:
Remove a scoundrel,
Unite a party,
Preserve the Union,
Promote the sales of my book,
Insure my future,
My niche in history,
And then the world will see
That I am not a man to overlook!
Ha-ha!

And all you have to do
Is squeeze your little finger.
Ease your little finger back-
You can change the world.

Whatever else is true,
You trust your little finger.
Just a single little finger
Can change the world.

I got this really great gun-
shit, where is it?
No, it's really great-
Wait-

shit, where is it?
Anyway
It's just a .38-
But-
It's a gun.
You can make a statement-
Wrong-
With a gun-
Even if you fail.

It tells 'em who you are
Where you stand.
This one was on sale.
It- no not the shoe-
Well, actually the shoe was, too.

No, that's not it-
shit, I had it here-
Got it!

Yeah! There it is! And-

All you have to do
Is crook your little finger,
your little finger 'round-

shit, I shot it...

- You can change the world.

Simply follow through,
And look, your little finger
Can
Slow them down
To a crawl,
Show them all,
Big and small,
It took a little finger
No time
To change the world.

A gun kills many men before it's done,
Hundreds,
Long before you shoot the gun:
Men in the mines
And in the steel mills,
Men at machines,
Who died for what?

Somthing to buy-
A watch, a shoe, a gun,
A thing to make the bosses richer,
But
A gun claims many men before it's done...
Just
One
More.

Czolgosz,
Working man,
Born in the middle of Michigan,
Woke with a thought
And away he ran
To the Pan-American Exposition
In Buffalo,
In Buffalo.

Saw of a sudden
How things were run,
Said, "Time's a-wasting
It's nineteen-one.
Some men have everything
And some have none,
So rise and shine-
In the U.S.A.
You can work your way
To the head of the line!"

Single line, ladies and gentlemen.
Line forms here to meet the President of the United States.
Single line to shake hands with President William McKinley.

Czolgosz,
Quiet man,
Worked out a quiet
And simple plan,
Strolled of a morning
All spick and span,
To the Temple Of Music
By the Tower Of Light
At the Pan-American Exposition
In Buffalo,
In Buffalo.

Saw Bill McKinley there
In the sun.
Heard Bill McKinley say,
"Folks, have fun!
Some men have everything
And some have none,
But that's just fine:
In the U.S.A.
You can work your way
To the head of the line!"

Big Bill-!

-Gave 'em a thrill.

Big Bill-!

-Sold 'em a bill.

Big Bill-!

-Who'd want to kill
A man of good will
Like-?

Big Bill!

Doesn't the President look Marvelous?
So round and prosperous!

Do you know what his favorite dish is?
It was in the paper. Beef!

I'm told that in his spare time he enjoys
collecting coins!

Czolgosz,
Angry man,
Said, "I will do what
A poor man can.
Yes, and there's nowhere
More fitting than
In the Temple Of Music
By the Tower Of Light
Between the Fountain Of Abundance
And the Court of Lilies
At the great Pan-American Exposition
In Buffalo,
In Buffalo.

Wrapped him a handkerchief
'round his gun,
Said, "Nothin' wrong about
What I done.
Some men have everything
And some have none-
That's by design.
The idea wasn't mine alone,
But mine,
And that's the sign:

In the U.S.A.
You can have your say,
You can set you goals
And seize the day,
You've been given the freedom
To work your way
To the head of the line-
To the head of the line!"