Cesare Lombroso

 

My name is Cesare Lombroso

And I have something to say

You have bumps on your head

And they won’t go away

And it’s bad news for you

‘Cause to me they’re a sign

That your key disposition

Is inclined towards crime

I can feel, if I stroke them

The shapes that are formed

When you let bad ideas

Wander into your thoughts

I explain criminality 

Through the wisdom of phrenology

Like a word makes much more sense

When you know it’s etymology

My contention is this:

People vile, wrong and predatory

Can be traced through their genes 

Wickedness is hereditary

I’m Cesare Lombroso

Don’t wear my name out

For my science will make me 

A man of renown

I identify vagabonds, 

Ruffians and thieves

With my map of the scalp

Where a lump or a crease

Is a sure sign of villainy

Of virtue defective

My fingers are like 

The world’s greatest detective!

I’ll teach you to judge 

With the eyes, not the mind

My determinist credo 

Might be cruel and unkind

And borderline fascist, I guess,

If it’s racist

To judge people’s souls

By the look of their faces

But it’s easier, you see

To judge moral intent

By observing your arms

And assessing their length

Cesare Lombroso

Just let that name ring

Of knee jerk injustice

I’m surely the king

My science is wonky

My methods unsound

But the echoes of my

Flawed conclusions resound

And it makes me feel good

That a hundred years on

My discredited thoughts

Will find comfort and home

In the minds of a tribe who

Should be more reflective

Who should know that rapscallions

Can’t be detected

By the texture of skin

Or the length of the neck

Who should trust in psychology

Appreciate context

But instead put their trust

In my glorious name

Cesare Lombroso

It’s not the bumps on your head

It’s who you choose to believe That’s to blame