William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll   With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger   At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin'      And the cops were brought in and his weapon took from him   As they rode him in custody down to the station   And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder      Oh, but you who philosophize   Disgrace and criticize all fears   Take the rag away from your face   Now ain't the time for your tears      William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years   Owns a tobacco farm, six hundred acres   With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him   And high office relations in the politics of Maryland      Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders   And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling   In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking      Oh, but you who philosophize   Disgrace and criticize all fears   Take the rag away from your face   Now ain't the time for your tears      Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen   She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children   Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage   And never sat once at the head of the table      And didn't even talk to the people at the table   Who just cleaned up all the food from the table   And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level   Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane      That sailed through the air and came down through the room   Doomed and determined to destroy all these gentle   And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger      Oh, but you who philosophize   Disgrace and criticize all fears   Take the rag away from your face   Now ain't the time for your tears      In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel   To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level   And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded   And that even the nobles get properly handled      Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em   And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom   Stared at the person who killed for no reason   Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'      And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished   And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance   William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence      Oh, but you who philosophize   Disgrace and criticize all fears   Bury the rag deep in your face   Now's the time for your tears