[Instrumental Intro] [Intro] Extra! Extra! Hot off the press! Truth gets twisted When the headlines impress! New York City, eighteen ninety-eight, Two newspaper kings Got a war to create! [Verse 1] Cuba's in crisis, Spain's in control, Rebels want freedom, that's the goal. Burning plantations, breaking the chain, Spain strikes back, bringing suffering and pain. Starvation, disease, people dying, American business interests crying. Money on the line, investments at stake, A perfect storm for the press to make! Pulitzer's World, Hearst's Journal too, Both chasing readers, fighting for views. Big bold headlines, ink on the page, Turn up the tension, turn up the rage! [Instrumental Break] [Chorus] EXTRA! EXTRA! SELLING THE WAR! Give 'em a headline, they'll beg for more! Print that panic! Push that pain! Profit from the pressure, again and again! EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT! Turn up the fear, let the facts fall out! Truth gets buried, rumors soar, Who's making money selling the war? [Instrumental Interlude] [Verse 2 – Newspaper Rivalry] [Pulitzer] World on the street, got the scoop, got the story, Front-page fury, chasing fame and glory! Drama and danger, the public's attention, Circulation climbing with every invention! [Hearst] Journal's got juice, got the city on lock, Big bold type, make the whole block talk! You sell a story? I sell sensation! Turn that tension into circulation! [Pulitzer] You stretch the truth! [Hearst] You do it too! [Both] If the story sells, that's headline news! Yellow journalism, color the facts, Sensational stories, no turning back! Exaggerate, agitate, dominate the page, Sell the sensation, manufacture rage! [Instrumental Break] [Verse 3] McKinley sent the Maine to Havana Bay, Protecting U.S. interests along the way. February fifteenth, a terrible night, An explosion shook the harbor, ignited the fight! Two hundred sixty sailors gone, The newspapers had their story by dawn. "Spain did it!" the headlines cried, But proof of that claim? Never verified! Remember the Maine! The people demand, A showdown with Spain, take a stand! McKinley pressed Spain to end the fight, But the calls for war grew louder overnight. April twenty-fifth, Congress made the call, War with Spain, now involving us all! From ink to outrage, from outrage to war, The press had helped open the door! [Instrumental Solo] [Chorus] EXTRA! EXTRA! SELLING THE WAR! Give 'em a headline, they'll beg for more! Print that panic! Push that pain! Profit from the pressure, again and again! EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT! Turn up the fear, let the facts fall out! Truth gets buried, rumors soar, Who's making money selling the war? [Bridge] Who controls the story? Who controls the spin? Who profits from the panic When the war drums begin? A headline ain't evidence, A rumor ain't proof, Just because it's printed Doesn't make it the truth! [Instrumental Build] [Final Chorus] EXTRA! EXTRA! SELLING THE WAR! Give 'em a headline, they'll beg for more! Print that panic! Push that pain! Profit from the pressure, again and again! EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT! Turn up the fear, let the facts fall out! Truth gets buried, rumors soar, Who's making money selling the war? [Instrumental Outro] [Outro] Ink on the fingers, Blood on the page. The price of a headline, The cost of the rage. Extra... Extra... Read all about it... [End]
