It's the story of a very unfortunate African man
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong
He got twenty years' privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old Buddha's gong
And now he's poppin' the piano for to make the price
Of a ticket to the land of the free
He says his home's in Frisco where they send the rice
But he's really from Tennessee
And so he says, I need someone to love me
Need somebody to carry me home to San Francisco
And bury my body there
I need someone to lend me a fifty dollar bill and then
I'll go home to San Francisco and happiness once again
Won't someone believe, oh I yearn to see that Bay again
But each time I try to leave, sweet opium won't let me fly away
It's the story of a very unfortunate African man
Who got arrested down in old Hong Kong
He got twenty years' privilege taken away from him
When he kicked old Buddha's gong