Johnny was so good when he was a little kid
he built himself a house he wouldn't let nobody in
he put a nail in the window and a lock on the door
and we never saw Johnny anymore.

Tear down
tear down the building
build it up with love fill it up with lots of children
a tire in the back
we'll hang it from a tree
we'll all go swimming in the deep blue sea.

Mary had a dog together they would play
the gate was left open and her dog ran away
Mary went to her room put a lock on the door
and we never saw Mary anymore.

Tear down
tear down the building
build it up with love fill it up with lots of children
a tire in the back
we'll hang it from a tree
we'll all go swimming in the deep blue sea.

Kenny had a friend she was pretty as a flower
the winter time came and the cold snow got her
put a nail in his window and a lock on his door
and we never saw Kenny anymore.

Tear down
tear down the building
build it up with love fill it up with lots of children
a tire in the back
we'll hang it from a tree
we'll all go swimming in the deep blue sea.

I think it would be nice if we had the attitude
that we could leap over mountains if we really wanted to
we'd take the nails from the window and the lock from the door
so we wouldn't have to hide anymore
shut the door!