Everybody thinking, thinking pretty hard
Everybody thinking about singin' from the heart
If you want my opinion, it isn't worth a bean
If you haven't got that ability to swing
Aww, the ability to swing
Everybody talking, talking pretty loud
Everybody looking, just turn up from the crowd
Gonna break it till you bucko, it isn't worth a bean
If you ain't in possession, the ability to swing
Aww, the ability to swing
Friends send them away
And 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, aww
Everybody looking, looking pretty hard
Everybody talking about singin' from the heart
Gonna break it till you bucko, it isn't worth a bean
If you ain't in possession, the ability to swing
Aww, the ability to swing
Dreams send them away
And 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, aww
Oh 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, aww
Everybody looking, looking pretty hard
Everybody looking for a meaning in my art
Gonna give it to you straight boy, it isn't worth a bean
If you ain't in possession, the ability to swing, yeah
The ability to swing, the ability to swing
The ability to swing yeah, the ability to swing