When Julius Caesar went to town
To purchase steaks and chops and such,
He tried to beat the butchers down
And swore their prices were too much.
" Two cents a pound for steak, " he roared,
" Why, man, that's nothing short of crime.
You butchers are a greedy horde,
It cost but one in Noah's time! "

When Ollie Cromwell went to shop
For beef and mutton and the like,
He said if prices didn't drop
He'd spit the butchers on a spike.
" Six cents a pound for steak, " he said.
" It's more than honest men can pay.
You folks are robbers, on the dead,
It cost but two in Caesar's day! "

Today when we go out and find
That beef is eighty cents a pound,
We tarry there and speak our mind
And scatter savage words around.
'Twas ever thus, in every age,
In every time and clime and season
The price of meat has made men rage
And always with abundant reason.