Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Now can you clap for the killers?
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Well I
Wrote this for criminals
But all of y'all should listen at me
Now if you ever catch me snitchin
Just haul off and slap me
They on the other team
Let's rumble
Is my thoughts exactly
They work for gangsters
And they wacked Fred Hampton Jr.'s
Pappy
Ay playboy
Pop em with a pistol and get executed
Ay mama
Murder em with missiles and you get saluted
Go head and
Gank em for a grand
It's DNA computed
But bankers bathe in the Bahamas
Off of billions looted
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap for them killers?
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Well I
Wrote this for criminals
But they the ones who wrote the laws
They ain't on TV getting arrested ass up in their draws
They stick their hands up politicians
Make em move their jaws
And they be starving folks for bread
Until their breath pause
Ay take a memo Moneypenny
Say the deed is done
And you can bcc DC
And say our leaders won
But first we fax the photograph of the
Opponent's son
Adjust the image
'Cause it's hard to see the gag and gun
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap for them killers?
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Well I
Wrote this for gangsters
While I sprinted through your backyard
Not for them Coppola criminals
They just act hard
Tony Montana had a stylist and a SAG
Card
When he reloaded slaves forgot they had
Back scars
Ay
M-m-mister DeNiro what kind of gun is
That?
Can you look more like a menace?
Take two
Now run it back
Ay s-s-so what Scorsese
Got all them money stacks
Long as his lens never looks at the real maniacs
Clap for them killers
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Well I
Wrote this for criminals
But all of y'all should listen at me
Now if you ever catch me snitchin
Just haul off and slap me
They on the other team
Let's rumble
Is my thoughts exactly
They work for gangsters
And they wacked Fred Hampton Jr.'s
Pappy
Ay playboy
Pop em with a pistol and get executed
Ay mama
Murder em with missiles and you get saluted
Go head and
Gank em for a grand
It's DNA computed
But bankers bathe in the Bahamas
Off of billions looted
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap for them killers?
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Well I
Wrote this for criminals
But they the ones who wrote the laws
They ain't on TV getting arrested ass up in their draws
They stick their hands up politicians
Make em move their jaws
And they be starving folks for bread
Until their breath pause
Ay take a memo Moneypenny
Say the deed is done
And you can bcc DC
And say our leaders won
But first we fax the photograph of the
Opponent's son
Adjust the image
'Cause it's hard to see the gag and gun
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap?
Now can you clap for them killers?
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Well I
Wrote this for gangsters
While I sprinted through your backyard
Not for them Coppola criminals
They just act hard
Tony Montana had a stylist and a SAG
Card
When he reloaded slaves forgot they had
Back scars
Ay
M-m-mister DeNiro what kind of gun is
That?
Can you look more like a menace?
Take two
Now run it back
Ay s-s-so what Scorsese
Got all them money stacks
Long as his lens never looks at the real maniacs
Clap for them killers
Give it up for them gangsters
One time for the killers
Double up for them gangsters
Lyrics submitted by gnomecreature
Clap for the Killers Lyrics as written by Thomas B. Morello Raymond Riley
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Verse 2 - the second half is spoken from the voice of a fictional puppet regime outside of the US, that has just pulled off a coup or a rigged election with British and US support. They're informing MI6 via memo, and BCC'ing Washington, to let them know that they were successful. But first they have some domestic business to take care of, threatening the opposition to keep quiet or they'll kill the "opponent's son". So this bit fits into the overall song because it shows how the seemingly legitimate, respectable businessmen and politicians are the most serious gangsters. It's just that their crimes go unrecognized - as in how their control of the world economy makes them responsible for people starvign for bread. And since they write the laws, they go unpunished: they aren't the ones on TV shows like Cops, the stereotypical scene where the guy getting arrested is surprised by the police at home, and he's wearing only his boxer shorts ("all up in their drawers").
Verse 3 - Scarface is a huge cultural icon in poor, ethnic minority circles (which is what Boots is talking about) and also in young male circles generally, even more privileged ones. He's referring to how a myth like Scarface, going from rags to riches on the strength of one's courage and willingness to break society's rules - the same society that dumped you at the bottom of the barrel - serves to distract people from political-economic reality. "When he reloaded slaves forgot that they had back scars"
great song.
i love the lines "pop 'em with a pistol and get executed....murder 'em with missiles and you get saluted..."<br /> <br /> peas g's. i've only heard this song once, but totally rocks.<br /> <br /> ~istilllovetonymontana~