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 you 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,
 Ensure 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.
 (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?
 Something 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!"