(March, 1919)
A LIAR goes in fine clothes. | |
| A liar goes in rags. | |
| A liar is a liar, clothes or no clothes. | |
| A liar is a liar and lives on the lies he tells and dies in a life of lies. | |
| And the stonecutters earn a living—with lies—on the tombs of liars. | 5 |
| |
| Aliar looks ’em in the eye | |
| And lies to a woman, | |
| Lies to a man, a pal, a child, a fool. | |
| And he is an old liar; we know him many years back. | |
| |
| A liar lies to nations. | 10 |
| A liar lies to the people. | |
| A liar takes the blood of the people | |
| And drinks this blood with a laugh and a lie, | |
| A laugh in his neck, | |
| A lie in his mouth. | 15 |
| And this liar is an old one; we know him many years. | |
| He is straight as a dog’s hind leg. | |
| He is straight as a corkscrew. | |
| He is white as a black cat’s foot at midnight. | |
| |
| The tongue of a man is tied on this, | 20 |
| On the liar who lies to nations, | |
| The liar who lies to the people. | |
| The tongue of a man is tied on this | |
| And ends: To hell with ’em all. | |
| To hell with ’em all. | 25 |
| |
| It’s a song hard as a riveter’s hammer, | |
| Hard as the sleep of a crummy hobo, | |
| Hard as the sleep of a lousy doughboy, | |
| Twisted as a shell-shock idiot’s gibber. | |
| |
| The liars met where the doors were locked. | 30 |
| They said to each other: Now for war. | |
| The liars fixed it and told ’em: Go. | |
| |
| Across their tables they fixed it up, | |
| Behind their doors away from the mob. | |
| And the guns did a job that nicked off millions. | 35 |
| The guns blew seven million off the map, | |
| The guns sent seven million west. | |
| Seven million shoving up the daisies. | |
| Across their tables they fixed it up, | |
| The liars who lie to nations. | 40 |
| |
| And now | |
| Out of the butcher’s job | |
| And the boneyard junk the maggots have cleaned, | |
| Where the jaws of skulls tell the jokes of war ghosts, | |
| Out of this they are calling now: Let’s go back where we were. | 45 |
| Let us run the world again, us, us. | |
| |
| Where the doors are locked the liars say: Wait and we’ll cash in again. | |
| |
| So I hear The People talk. | |
| I hear them tell each other: | |
| Let the strong men be ready. | 50 |
| Let the strong men watch. | |
| Let your wrists be cool and your head clear. | |
| Let the liars get their finish, | |
| The liars and their waiting game, waiting a day again | |
| To open the doors and tell us: War! get out to your war again. | 55 |
| |
| So I hear The People tell each other: | |
| Look at to-day and to-morrow. | |
| Fix this clock that nicks off millions | |
| When The Liars say it’s time. | |
| Take things in your own hands. | 60 |
| To hell with ’em all, | |
| The liars who lie to nations, | |
| The liars who lie to The People. | |
