i went to my room and flopped on my bed
strange emotions roared through my head
last night i went to sleep a nobody
now the world had been revealed to me
in the days to follow i moved fast
my opportunity might not last
i made it plain for all to see
that now the town belonged to me
the sudden exit of johnny and harry
was a tale that quickly carried
but the town needed a boss
so i quickly made up its loss
only one guy made a move
to get me out of my groove
harry’s old buddy ray lee
who had it in him to say to me
you know it seems to me
this is the twentieth century
we don’t need some punk like you
telling us what we can and can’t do
i told ray he had a right to his opinion
but i continued to exercise dominion
one night ray went home to his wife and kid
yes that is what he did
the next morning ray got up
and drank some coffee from his cup
then went outside to get into his cadillac
and somebody shot him in the back
after that i was home free
everything was approved by me
all the men and boys did my bidding
and women flocked around me like pigeons
winter to spring, summer to fall
i had beaten city hall
everything was going to plan
and then i met mary ann
mary ann lived in a house on the hill
her grandfather in his will
had left her the city and most of the state
such was her most fortunate fate
she had long indulged a passion
for wild living and fast action
life to her was just a game
and she refused to be tamed
from the age of fourteen
she had made the scene
and run through a thousand men and boys
like a playpen filled with broken toys
johnny had been the last
to feel her icy sensuous blast
and be reduced to babbling rubble
the world was her soap bubble
now it was my hour
i consolidated my power
dames, like men, were at my command
then i felt the touch of her silky hand
mary ann put me to the test
sneered, you are no better than the rest
happy to rule this hick county
when the whole world could be your bounty
i put her off as best i could
i thought things were going pretty good
but mary ann had a bold plan
introduced me to a man named callahan
callahan had made a nice career
upholding everything folks held dear
in the state capital he held sway
what he said went, day by day
faceless, traceless, behind the scenes
the elected officials were his jumping beans
every few years he would arrange
for the proles and farmers, “time for a change”
i did not hear the bell of fate toll
as mary ann drove us upstate in her rolls
late at night, in a dim lit cafe
i heard what callahan had to say
callahan looked me over good
like a talent scout from hollywood
asked me from under his heavy lids
“how would you like to be governor, kid?”
with mary ann’s eyes burning into my soul
i could not refuse the role
and hardly knowing what i said
into the trap i was fatefully led
“just one thing,” added callahan
“there is a man -“
he paused - “a certain fellow,
i should say, a rat quite yellow
whose existence causes me grief
and it would be a relief
to me, and to the community
if he should somehow cease to be”
this came as no surprise
i hardly blinked my eyes
something for him, something for me
such was the way it would always be
i calmly agreed
to do the deed
once furnished wth the requisite details
and so fate sped along its rails
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