I was caught up in a fever
In that summer of '69
And my heart was cryin' out for change
And I knew time [bad word]  when I'd get away.

So I moved down to that city
Where I met a friend of mine
And I must admit he tried to warn me well
With all those bad luck stories he could tell.

He said "Take the money [bad word] 
Take the money [bad word] Believe it, in this town you can't [bad word] anyone
You're gonna learn that lesson my son".

"Take the money [bad word] 
Buy yourself a place in the sun
Don't be a fool, don't you [bad word] anyone
You gotta take the money [bad word]  take the money [bad word] .

He was broken, he was wasted
He'd been brought down to his knee
And his heart was crying out for [bad word] You could see the whole world's sadness in his eyes.

So I took good care of business
At least as far as I could see
I could read the signs and I knew all the lines
But so many times his voice came back to me.

"Take the money [bad word] 
Get it at the point of a gun
Believe it, in this town you can't [bad word] anyone
You're gonna learn that lesson my son".

"Take the money [bad word] 
Buy yourself a place in the sun
Don't be a fool, don't you [bad word] anyone
You gotta take the money [bad word]  take the money [bad word] .

I've been wanderin' through this wasteland

Where the blind go leading the blind
And the only sound on the money-go-round
Was the million voices waiting to be found.

I could only hear a whisper
It [bad word]  from the one I loved
And her heart was saying this can't be right
All my wasted days and all her lonely nights.

Take the money [bad word] 
Get it at the point of a gun
Believe it, n this town you can't [bad word] anyone
You're gonna learn that lesson my son.

Take the money [bad word] 
Buy yourself a place in the sun
Don't be a fool, don't you [bad word] anyone
You gotta take the money [bad word]  take the money [bad word]