Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner--- Warren Zevon
[Em]Roland was a [G]warrior, from the Land of the Midnight [C]Sun.
With a Thompson gun for [G]hire; fighting to be [D]done.
The [Em]deal was made in [G]Denmark, on a dark and stormy [C]day.
So he set out for Bi-[G]afra to [D]join the bloody [Em]fray.
Throught [Em]sixty-six and [G]seven they fought the Congo [C]war,
Fingers on their [G]triggers, knee-deep in [D]gore.
For [Em]days and nights they [G]battled the Bantu to their [C]knees.
They killed to earn their [G]living, and to [D]help out the Congo-[Em]lese.
[C]Roland the [G]Thompson gunner… [D] [Em]
[C]Roland the [G]Thompson gunner… [D] [Em]
His [Em]comrades fought be-[G]side him – Van Owen and the [C]rest,
But of all the Thompson [G]gunners, Roland was the [D]best.
So the [Em]CIA decded they [G]wanted Roland [C]dead …
That son-of-a-bitch Van [G]Owen [D]blew off Roland’s [Em]head.
[Em]Time, time, time
For a-[G]nother peaceful [C]war.
But time stands still for [G]Roland
‘Til he [D]evens up the [Em]score.
[Em]Roland searched the [G]continent for the man who’d done him [C]in.
He found him in Mom-[G]basa, in a barroom drinkin’ [D]gin.
[Em]Roland aimed his [G]Thompson gun – he didn’t say a [C]word.
But he blew Van Owen’s [G]body from [D]there to Johannes-[Em]burg.
[G]Roland the [D]headless [C]Thompson [Em]gunner
[G]Norway’s bravest [D]son.
They can [Em]still [D]see his [G]headless [D]body [C]stalking through the [Em]night
In the [G]muzzle-flash of [D]Roland’s Thompson [Em]gun…
In the [G]muzzle-flash of [D]Roland’s Thompson [C]gun. [Em]
The e-[Em]ternal Thompson [G]gunner, still wand’ring through the [C]night.
It’s forty-four* years [G]later, but he still keeps up the [D]fight.
In [Em]Ireland, in [G]Lebanon, in Palestine and [C]Berkeley –
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland’s Thompson [G]gun
[D]And [Em]bought it.
*increment yearly from either 1966 or 1967.