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The Green Day Authority For 25 years · Since July 2001
Woodstock was about the closest thing to anarchy I've ever seen in my whole life, and I didn't like it. Billie Joe Armstrong
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Father of All Motherfuckers

Father of All Motherfuckers

Take the Money and Crawl

Green Day Released 2020

Song Meaning

The song plays out like a grim character sketch of a hitman going through the motions, barely paid and barely holding it together. "Take the money and crawl" sums it up, doing dirty work for scraps, knowing it's degrading but not stopping. Lines about "illegal tender," "cold-blooded killers," and being a "nervous wreck" keep it grounded in that mix of violence and moral burnout.

Have your own interpretation of "Take the Money and Crawl"? Leave a comment below.

Lyrics

High on a low life
Hit me with a dull knife
Sweet soul sickness
Can I get a witness?

This is the wild life, I'm gonna take a dive
Take the money and crawl
Do I dare say "please" when I'm on my knees?
Take the money and crawl

Illegal tender
Goin' on a bender
Cold-blooded killers
Of all motherfuckers

Well, I'm a nervous wreck, enough to make you sick
Take the money and crawl
Oh yeah, it's just my luck, but I don't give a fuck
Take the money and crawl

(Hey, hey)
(Hey, hey)
(Hey, hey)

This is the wild life, I'm gonna take a dive
Take the money and crawl
Do I dare say "please" when I'm on my knees?
Take the money and crawl
So you can take a walk, or you can suck my cock
Take the money and crawl
Oh yeah, it's just my luck, but I don't give a fuck
Take the money and crawl

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Comments

Song Comments

10 tracks

More From Father of All Motherfuckers

1 Father of All... 2 Fire, Ready, Aim 3 Oh Yeah! 4 Meet Me on the Roof 5 I Was a Teenage Teenager 6 Stab You in the Heart 7 Sugar Youth 8 Junkies on a High 9 Take the Money and Crawl 10 Graffitia