Lizzie Borden

歌詞

[Spoken] One very exciting area of folk idiom and folk music to us has always been the hatchet murders in Massachusetts. And I think that this quaint bit of suburban living can best be explained through the use of our poet laureate, Joe Frazier: Elizabeth Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks And when the job was nicely done She gave her father forty one Yesterday in old Fall River, Mr. Andrew Borden died And he got his daughter Lizzie on a charge of homicide Some folks say she didn't do it, and others say of course she did But they all agree Miss Lizzie B. was a problem kind of kid 'Cause you can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts Not even if it's planned as a surprise No you can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts You know how neighbors love to criticize She got him on the sofa where he'd gone to take a snooze And I hope he went to heaven 'cause he wasn't wearing shoes Lizzie kind of rearranged him with a hatchet so they say And then she got her mother in that same old fashioned way But you can't can't chop your momma up in Massachusetts Not even if you're tired of her cuisine No, you can't chop your momma up in Massachusetts You know it's almost sure to cause a scene Well, they really kept her hoppin' on that busy afternoon With both down and upstairs chopping while she hummed a rag-time tune They really made her hustle and when all was said and done She'd removed her mother's bustle when she wasn't wearing one Oh you can't chop your momma up in Massachusetts And then blame all the damage on the mice No you can't chop your momma up in Massachusetts That kind of thing just isn't very nice Now it wasn't done for pleasure and it wasn't done for spite And it wasn't done because the lady wasn't very bright She'd always done the slightest thing that mom or pop had bid They said, "Lizzie cut it out!" so that's exactly what she did But you can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts And then get dressed and go out for a walk No, you can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts Massachusetts is a far cry from New York No you can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts Shut the door and lock and latch it Here comes Lizzie with a brand new hatchet You can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts Such a snob I heard it said She met her pa and cut him dead You can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts Jump like a fish, jump like a porpoise All join in in a habeas corpus No, you can't chop your poppa up in Massachusetts Massachusetts is a far cry from New York