Tooth and Claw

[PEACHUM]
Most people will pass by a church
Though church bells may ring long and loud
But rattle your dice
Just once or twice
And you'll find you've collected a crowd

Museums are left in the lurch
Most fellows won't give 'em a dime
But offer the same
That old shell game
And they'll line up for hours at a time

Tooth and claw, tooth and claw
No one can alter that natural law
The foolish, the pious insist it ain't so
But suckers supply us with plenty of dough
The phonus balonus is always a draw
So here's a toast to tooth and claw!

We overlook nations in need
'Til most of the people have died
But wе don't think it odd
To shoot our wad
On a racehorse we nеver will ride

The schools and the colleges plead
But our legislators yell "Scat"
While we spend our beans
On slot machines
Oh, you don't need book learnin' for that!

Tooth and claw, tooth and claw
Nothing can alter that natural law
The foolish, the pious insist it ain't so
But suckers supply us with plenty of dough
The phonus balonus is always a draw
So here's a toast to tooth and claw!

The same thing holds true when we vote
An honest man don't gain an inch
If he has ideals
The public feels
He'll do 'em no good in a pinch

We put in a ruthless old goat
Who'll take us for all he can hold
If we make a fuss
He says to us
That the root of all evil is gold

Claw and tooth, claw and tooth
Nothing's less glamorous than the truth
In each legislature the cynics are sad
They say human nature is naturally bad
'Til we start to wise up and size up the law
The world belongs to tooth and claw!