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lyrics

Gather round me children and I’ll teach you the way
You can grow up to be like your role models today
To talk like a true-blue bona-fide head of state
If you want to elude any kind of question
Just pay attention to these here suggestions
And in no time at all you’ll be able to prevaricate
You don’t need to believe in no superstition
To learn to talk like a politician
All you got to do is look innocently
At your accusers and say, on three (one, two, three)
Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault, maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause, no case, no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you can get to the truth
Maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go

Adam and eve in the garden of eden
Were told about a fruit they should refrain from eatin
God said, “If you ever do, by god it’ll be a sin”
One day as the good lord was passin on by
He caught sight of the couple out the corner of his eye
Wearing clothes behind which they was trine to hide from him
He called em over said, Adam and eve
What are you doin wearin them old fig-leaves?
Who do you spose you are tryin to fool?
Did you go ahead and break my one and only rule?
Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t
Maybe it’s our fault, maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, and maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause, no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Hell, Maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go

Old man Washington had a cherry tree
Yielded lots of cherries sweet as can be
His wife used to gather em to make her famous pie
One day the old man went into town,
Came back found that old tree chopped down
The sight brought tears of rage into his tired eyes
In his loudest voice he called to his only son
Said, George, get out here—and George, he come
Said, George, don’t you tell no lie to me
Was it you who cut down my cherry tree?
Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault, maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Hell, maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go

William Clinton was an American president
Had a reputation that was without precedent
Swore to protect and serve his country all his life
One day word broke about some sort of affair
That gave everybody a little bit of a scare
He’d been publicly accused of cheating on his wife
Well they called a meeting, and they called the press
Tried to make old Bill confess
Everybody thought they had him caught
When they said did you have relations with that woman or not?
He said, maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault maybe it isn’t,
Maybe that’s a yes, maybe that’s a big fat no
When you got no cause no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Heck maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go

Lance Armstrong was a professional cyclist
Who overcame cancer, was on everyone’s like-list
Most would have said he was the best athlete there ever was
One day the US Drug Administration
Performed a retrospective investigation
To see whether he had ever used performance enhancing drugs
Well they checked his blood and wouldn’t you note
Lance Armstrong’s blood was full of dope
They asked him about his blood-test results:
They said: well, what do you have to say for yourself?
He said, well maybe I did, maybe I didn’t
Maybe it’s my fault maybe it isn’t
Maybe that’s a yes, and maybe it’s a big fat no
When you got no cause no case no proof
Maybe maybe’s the closest you’ll ever get to the truth
Hell, maybe we ought to just let the whole thing go

credits

from Maxims, Mantras & Moral Tales, released October 3, 2021

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Sam Steffen Boise, Idaho

Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. ... more

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