Ken Key uploaded this song originally but I think these cords are closer to
the recording on Excitable Boy. I left Ken's lyric formatting and just
changed the cords . key@cs.utk.edu
Mark Rubin
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Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
Warren Zevon
Bm D G
Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun
G 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
G D A Bm
So he set out for Biafra to join the bloody fray
Bm D G
Through sixty-six and seven they fought the Congo war
G D A
Fingers on their triggers, knee-deep in gore
Bm D G
For days and nights they battled the Bantu to their knees
G D A Bm
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...
Bm D G
His comrades fought beside him - Van Owen and the rest
G D A
But of all the Thompson gunners Roland was the best
Bm D G
So the CIA decided they wanted Roland dead
G D A Bm
That son-of-a-bitch Van Owen blew off Roland's head
Chorus: Harmony:
D A G Bm
Roland the headless Thompson gunner (Time, time, time
D A For another peaceful war
Norway's bravest son But time stands still for
Roland
'Til he evens up the score)
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
Bm D G
Roland searched the continent for the man who'd done him in
G D A
He found him in Mombassa in a barroom drinking gin
Bm D G
Roland aimed his Thompson gun - he didn't say a word
G D A Bm
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
Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun
A Bm
And bought it
All the A cords can be played as a regular A or O O 2 2 O O, [I forget
the name of this cord]
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