The Queen's Six - The Vatican Rag

(In the year 1962
In an attempt to make the church more commercial
The Second Vatican Council decided to replace Latin
With use of the vernacular in portions of the Mass
And to widen somewhat the range of music permissible in the liturgy
To demonstrate what might have been possible using more popular song forms
Here is a modest example)

First you get down on your knees
Fiddle with your rosaries
Bow your head with great respect
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Do whatever steps you want if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff
Everybody say his own
Kyrie eleison
Doin' the Vatican Rag!

Get in line in that processional
Step into that small confessional
There the guy who's got religion'll
Tell you if your sin's original
If it is, try playin' it safer
Drink the wine and chew the wafer
Two, four, six, eight
Time to transubstantiate!

So get down upon your knees
Fiddle with your rosaries
Bow your head with great respect
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Make a cross on your abdomen
When in Rome do like a Roman
Ave Maria, gee it's good to see ya
Gettin' ecstatic an'
Sorta dramatic an'
Doin' the Vatican Rag!

Written by:
Tom Lehrer

Publisher:
Lyrics © Public Domain

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