Tooth and Claw

Lyrics

[PEACHUM] Most people will pass by a church Though church bells may ring long and loud But rattle your dice Just once or twice And you'll find you've collected a crowd Museums are left in the lurch Most fellows won't give 'em a dime But offer the same That old shell game And they'll line up for hours at a time Tooth and claw, tooth and claw No one can alter that natural law The foolish, the pious insist it ain't so But suckers supply us with plenty of dough The phonus balonus is always a draw So here's a toast to tooth and claw! We overlook nations in need 'Til most of the people have died But wе don't think it odd To shoot our wad On a racehorse we nеver will ride The schools and the colleges plead But our legislators yell "Scat" While we spend our beans On slot machines Oh, you don't need book learnin' for that! Tooth and claw, tooth and claw Nothing can alter that natural law The foolish, the pious insist it ain't so But suckers supply us with plenty of dough The phonus balonus is always a draw So here's a toast to tooth and claw! The same thing holds true when we vote An honest man don't gain an inch If he has ideals The public feels He'll do 'em no good in a pinch We put in a ruthless old goat Who'll take us for all he can hold If we make a fuss He says to us That the root of all evil is gold Claw and tooth, claw and tooth Nothing's less glamorous than the truth In each legislature the cynics are sad They say human nature is naturally bad 'Til we start to wise up and size up the law The world belongs to tooth and claw!