The Ballad Of Charles Whitman

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He was sitting up there for more than an hour
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Way up there on the Texas Tower
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Shooting from the twenty-seventh floor
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He didn't choke or slash or slit them
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Not our Charles Joseph Whitman
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He won't be an architect no more

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Got up that morning, calm and cool
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He picked up his guns and walked to school
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All the while he smiled so sweetly
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Then he blew their minds completely
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They'd never seen an Eagle Scout so cruel

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Now won't you think of the shame and degradation
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For the schools administration
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To put on such a bold and brassy show
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The Chancellor cried, "Its adolescent
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And of course, it's most unpleasant
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But you've gotta admit, it was a lovely way to go"

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There was a rumor about a tumor
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Nestled at the base of his brain
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He was sitting up there with his .36 Magnum
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Laughing wildly as he bagged em
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Who are we to say the boy's insane?

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Now Charlie was awful disappointed
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Else he thought he was anointed
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To do a deed so lowdown and so mean
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The students looked up from their classes
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Had to stop and rub their glasses
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Who'd believe he'd once been a Marine

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Now Charlie made the honor roll with ease
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Most all of his grades was A's and B's
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A real rip-snorting trigger-squeezer
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Charlie proved a big crowd pleaser
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Though he had been known to make a couple C's

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Some were dying, some were weeping
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Some were studying, some were sleeping
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Some were shouting, Texas number one
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Some were running, some were falling
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Some were screaming, some were bawling
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Some thought the revolution had begun

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The doctors tore his poor brain down
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But not a snitch of illness could be found
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Most folks couldn't figure just-a why he did it
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And those that could would not admit it
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There's still a lot of Eagle Scouts around

 G                          D
There was a rumor about a tumor
                          A
Nestled at the base of his brain
 D
He was sitting up there with his .36 Magnum
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Laughing wildly as he bagged em

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Who are we to say the boys in?
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Who are we to say the boys in?
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Who are we to say the boys insane?