Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Warren Zevon
[Verse 1]
Roland was a warrior
From the Land of the Midnight Sun
With a Thompson gun for hire
Fighting to be done
The deal was made in Denmark
On a dark and stormy day
So he set out for Biafra
To join the bloody fray

[Verse 2]
Through sixty-six and seven
They fought the Congo war
With their fingers on their triggers
Knee-deep in gore
For days and nights they battled
The Bantu to their knees
They killed to earn their living
And to help out the Congolese

[Chorus]
Roland the Thompson gunner
Roland the Thompson gunner
[Verse 3]
His comrades fought beside him
Van Owen and the rest
But of all the Thompson gunners
Roland was the best
So the CIA decided
They wanted Roland dead
That son-of-a-bitch Van Owen
Blew off Roland's head

[Chorus]
Roland the headless Thompson gunner
(Time, time, time for another peaceful war)
Norway's bravest son
(But time stands still for Roland 'til he evens up the score)
They can still see his headless body
Stalking through the night
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun
In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun

[Verse 4]
Roland searched the continent
For the man who'd done him in
He found him in Mombasa
In a barroom drinking gin
Roland aimed his Thompson gun
He didn't say a word
But he blew Van Owen's body
From there to Johannesburg
[Chorus]
Roland the headless Thompson gunner
Roland the headless Thompson gunner
Roland the headless Thompson gunner
(Talkin' about the man)
Roland the headless Thompson gunner

[Verse 5]
The eternal Thompson gunner
Still wandering through the night
Now it's ten years later
But he still keeps up the fight
In Ireland, in Lebanon
In Palestine and Berkeley
Patty Hearst heard the burst
Of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it
Write the lyrics for a rock song made in 1978, titled "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner", by artist "Warren Zevon".