Intro Mm-mm, mind the apples in the barrel One bad bite’ll spoil the store Verse 1 He rolled in grinning with his red cap crooked Gold leaf shining on a borrowed floor Sold blackened apples by the courthouse steps And swore they tasted better than before He’d pat your back while he picked your pocket Call it business with a holy face Then laugh so hard that his shoulders shook When your whole town lost the place Pre-Chorus He said, “Folks, I’m useful” He said, “Folks, I’m rich” Then kicked down the ladder And complained of the ditch Chorus Rotten to the core Rotten to the seed Takes a little sugar From somebody else’s need Bad deed for breakfast Two more before four Big grin in the window Rotten to the core Verse 2 He kept his name on every brass-plated doorway Kept his debts in another man’s drawer Promised milk to the tired old dairy Then sold the bucket and demanded more He loved a room full of nodding mirrors Loved a chant with a borrowed tune If rain came down through a schoolhouse ceiling He’d sell umbrellas at half past noon Pre-Chorus 2 He said, “Don’t check the numbers” He said, “Check my hands” Then folded the ledger And blamed the farmhand Chorus Rotten to the core Rotten to the seed Takes a little sugar From somebody else’s need Bad deed for breakfast Two more before four Big grin in the window Rotten to the core Bridge Ask who stiffed the mason He’ll point at the wall Ask who split the harvest He’ll blame leaves in the fall Ask why smoke’s in the nursery He’ll sell you a fan Then swear by the flagpole He’s a self-made man Breakdown Say Crab-by Ap-ple-ton clean and slow Crab-by Ap-ple-ton, teeth in a row Red cap tilted, cufflinks bright Laughs when the lamps go out at night Final Chorus Rotten to the core Rotten to the seed Takes a little sugar From somebody else’s need Bad deed for breakfast Three more before four Still grinning in the window Rotten to the core Outro Mm-mm, mind the apples in the barrel Don’t bite down too deep
