Roland was a warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun

With a Thompson gun for hire, fighting to be done

The deal was made in Denmark on a dark and stormy day

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



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



Roland the headless Thompson gunner (Time, time, time

For another peaceful war

Norway's bravest son But time stands still for Roland

'Til he evens up the score)

They can still see his headless body stalking through the night

In the muzzle flash of Roland's Thompson gun

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



Roland the headless Thompson gunner...



The eternal Thompson gunner, still wandering through the night

Now it's ten years later but he still keeps up the fight

In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley

Patty Hearst heard the burst of Roland's Thompson gun

And bought it