Penny for the poor boy, take pity for a friend
Put your pride in the pail and you put it on the rail and the wind will blow again
Yes, he’s the same old sorry salesman, same old droopy grin
So do your best to smile and maintain indifference

He’ll ask you for a moment as he twiddles with his pen
You’d say that you don’t live here but he’d only ask you when he can return
Same smile, but slightly different words
Homogenous petitions of the mindless chirping birds

Please, prevent this travesty before it reaches infamy
You see, the monkeys need to learn to read
It’s Proposition 23, it’s for the monkeys and for me
I hope that your capacity to read is slightly smaller than the monkeys

Stubbornly indignant, secretly concerned
Grasp at conversation but the salesman never learned how to make friends
Just speeches with slightly different ends
You reach into your wallet and examine all your tens

He thanks you with a smile but there’s something in his eyes
Bows before the doorstep, and suddenly you realize
The lies, the notion, so frightfully absurd
What need is there for monkeys to learn the written word?

Please, prevent this travesty before it reaches infamy
You see, the monkeys need to learn to read
It’s Proposition 23, it’s for the monkeys and for me
I hope that your capacity to read is slightly smaller than the monkeys