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Tooth and Claw Lyrics by Alfred Drake

Beggar’s Holiday / Bet Your Life

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[PEACHUM]
Most people will pass by a church
Though church bells may ring long and loud
But rattle your dice
Just once or twice
And you'll find you've collected a crowd
Museums are left in the lurch
Most fellows won't give 'em a dime
But offer the same
That old shell game
And they'll line up for hours at a time
Tooth and claw, tooth and claw
No one can alter that natural law
The foolish, the pious insist it ain't so
But suckers supply us with plenty of dough
The phonus balonus is always a draw
So here's a toast to tooth and claw!
We overlook nations in need
'Til most of the people have died
But wе don't think it odd
To shoot our wad
On a racehorse we nеver will ride
The schools and the colleges plead
But our legislators yell "Scat"
While we spend our beans
On slot machines
Oh, you don't need book learnin' for that!
Tooth and claw, tooth and claw
Nothing can alter that natural law
The foolish, the pious insist it ain't so
But suckers supply us with plenty of dough
The phonus balonus is always a draw
So here's a toast to tooth and claw!
The same thing holds true when we vote
An honest man don't gain an inch
If he has ideals
The public feels
He'll do 'em no good in a pinch
We put in a ruthless old goat
Who'll take us for all he can hold
If we make a fuss
He says to us
That the root of all evil is gold
Claw and tooth, claw and tooth
Nothing's less glamorous than the truth
In each legislature the cynics are sad
They say human nature is naturally bad
'Til we start to wise up and size up the law
The world belongs to tooth and claw!
Credits
Alfred Drake

Alfred Drake

About “Tooth and Claw” by Alfred Drake

Read the complete lyrics to "Tooth and Claw" by Alfred Drake from the album "Beggar’s Holiday / Bet Your Life". On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Musicals, Jazz, R&B.

"Tooth and Claw" is performed by Alfred Drake. from the album "Beggar’s Holiday / Bet Your Life" This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Tooth and Claw", explore more songs by Alfred Drake using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"Tooth and Claw" is credited to Alfred Drake. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Tooth and Claw" appears on "Beggar’s Holiday / Bet Your Life".

Visit the Alfred Drake artist page at /artist/alfred-drake for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.