ROLAND THE HEADLESS THOMPSON GUNNER Warren Zevon Bm D G Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun D A With a Thompson gun for hire, fighting to be done Bm D G The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day D A Bm So he set out for Biafra to join the bloody fray Through sixty-six and seven they fought the Congo war 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 G D A Bm Roland the Thompson gunner... G D A Bm Roland the Thompson gunner... 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: HARMONY: D A G Bm (Time, time, time for another peaceful war Roland the headless Thompson gunner But time stands still for D A Roland, 'Til he evens up the score) Norway's bravest son A Bm A D A G Bm They can still see his headless body stalking through the night D A Bm In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun D A G Bm In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun Roland searched the continent for the man who'd done him in He found him in Mombassa 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 G D A Bm Roland the headless Thompson gunner... G D A Bm Roland the headless Thompson gunner... G D A Bm Roland the headless Thompson gunner... Bm D G The eternal Thompson gunner, still wandering through the night G D A Now it's ten years later but he still keeps up the fight Bm D G In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley G G G D A Bm Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun and bought it