Once I built a railroad, I made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob
When their was earth to plow or guns to bear
I was always their right on the job
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell
Full of that Yankee-Doodly-dumb
Half a million boots went sloggin' through Hell
And I was the kid with the drum
Say, don't you remember, they called me "Al"
It was "Al" all the time
Why...
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower, now it's done
Brother, can you spare a dime?
They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob
When their was earth to plow or guns to bear
I was always their right on the job
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell
Full of that Yankee-Doodly-dumb
Half a million boots went sloggin' through Hell
And I was the kid with the drum
Say, don't you remember, they called me "Al"
It was "Al" all the time
Why...