The horror stories then grew, like nutria and kudzu
Nobody knew what to do, to stop the fiery tide
And they sprayed the land with chlordane
They sprayed the land with Heptachlor
They sprayed the land with Mirex, but the ant refused to die

Puzzled entomologists, chemists and biologists
Bureaucrat apologists still wondered what to do
For climbing up the food chain, came Heptachlor and chlordane
The fire ants would remain, the chemicals would, too

Refrain

Pesticides persistent, created ants resistant
Eliminated natural foes, going about their business
The cure employed to hit them became worse than the symptom
The efforts to eradicate threatened the whole system

So they banned the searing spray, and they banned the deadly dust
Before they bring the Silent Spring springing up on us
This much we can say, the ant is here to stay
The final bill of over-kill is much to high to pay

Refrain

You who live in cities, cultivated neighborhoods
Fire ants, it's understood, may come and take their stand
The males that die in nuptials, the queens that come in multiples,
The fire ant, combustible, is hard to understand

In backyards it's no picnic, but think before you panic
This isn't the Titanic: don't give up the land

The poison preparations, blind exterminations
Research the implications, analyze your goal
Reactions based on bedlam may only serve to spread them
To some extent accept them, search for safe control