Mr Los Alamos

Oppie is gone now

Take a look at what he left

Out on Jornada del Muerto

He said I am become death

Oppie was elegant

The smartest of them all

Rode tall in the saddle

drank fine wine and read poetry

Answered the call

Shatterer of worlds

A gift to you and me

Packing crackers and whiskey

The gang mounted up for a ride

Across the mesa up to the mountains

To talk about how to light up the sky

The gang was all happy

Having the time of their lives

But soon the whirlwind would blow

And sin they would all know

Destroyer of worlds

A gift to you and me

Enrico chain reacted

Down in sweet home Chicago

It was the beginning of the end

Dear atomic children

There’s fast Eddie Teller

Some kind of evil in his bones

Just couldn’t be happy

Without a gadget of his own

Shatterer of worlds

A gift to you and me

O. Lawrence lays bleeding

An old friend from way back

Shot by a fast particle machine

in the back of the head

Little Louis was a gambler

played tickle the dragon all day

Till the room glowed blue hot

And he burnt up inside

Destroyer of worlds

A gift to you and me

Trinity was the name

Pulled from a pork pie hat

It had to happen somewhere

So it might as well be there

Oppie met the president

Complained about blood on his hands

Truman gave him a handkerchief

Asked if he’d like to wipe them clean

Shatterer of worlds

A gift for you and me

Oppie had enemies

Took away his secrets and his keys

Built a blank wall around him

Then told him he was free

That mess is still with us

Thanks to the gang back in ‘45

The general made sure of that

Now it’s world wide

Oppie is gone now…

Take a look at what he left

On Jornada del Muerto

He said I am become death

paternostro • 2008