Everybody talking
talking pretty hard
everybody talking
'bout singing from the heart
if you want my opinion
it doesn't mean a thing
if you havn't got that
ability to swing
yeah, the ability to swing

everybody thinking
thinking pretty hard
everybody thinking
'bout singin' from the heart
so listen up already
I'm sayin' it again
if you havn't got that
ability to swing
ah, the ability to swing

dreams, take 'em away
go it alone, honey Rome wasn't built in a day
but now it's a ruin, the joke has worn thin
and it isn't cool to abuse the ability to swing

everybody working
working pretty hard
everybody working
at singing from the heart
if you want my opinion
it isn't worth a bean
if you you ain't in posession
of the ability to swing,

friends, send them away
go it alone, honey Rome wasn't built in a day
now it's a ruin, the joke has worn thin
and it isn't cool to abuse the ability to swing

but each beat send me deeper under
each beat send me more to sleep
heart melts ice and heart spells danger
don't hold your breath boy
'cause it don't come cheap

everybody looking
looking pretty hard
everybody searching
for a meaning in my art
I'll level with you bucko
it isn't worth a bean
if you ain't in posession
of the ability to swing
the ability to swing
mmm, the ability to swing