I was caught up in a fever
In that summer of ‘69
And my heart was cryin' out for change
And I knew time was comin' when I'd get away

So I moved down to that city
Where I met a friend of mine
And I must admit he tried to warn me well
With all those bad luck stories he could tell

He said "Take the money and run
Take the money and run
Believe it, in this town you can't trust anyone
You're gonna learn that lesson my son"

"Take the money and run
Buy yourself a place in the sun
Don't be a fool, don't you trust anyone
You gotta take the money and run, take the money and run"

He was broken, he was wasted
He'd been brought down to his knee
And his heart was crying out for truth
You could see the whole world's sadness in his eyes

So I took good care of business
At least as far as I could see
I could read the signs and I knew all the lines
But so many times his voice came back to me
"Take the money and run
Get it at the point of a gun
Believe it, in this town you can't trust anyone
You're gonna learn that lesson my son"

"Take the money and run
Buy yourself a place in the sun
Don't be a fool, don't you trust anyone
You gotta take the money and run, take the money and run"

I've been wanderin' through this wasteland
Where the blind go leading the blind
And the only sound on the money-go-round
Was the million voices waiting to be found

I could only hear a whisper
It was comin' from the one I loved
And her heart was saying this can't be right
All my wasted days and all her lonely nights

Take the money and run
Get it at the point of a gun
Believe it, in this town you can't trust anyone
You're gonna learn that lesson my son

Take the money and run
Buy yourself a place in the sun
Don't be a fool, don't you trust anyone
You gotta take the money and run, take the money and run