Don’t get your facts erroneous
The master bop blaster was named Thelonious
Thelonious Monk was the original gangster
Diabolic with the melodic and a rhythm-a-ning prankster
So don’t get faked by the copies; they’re the phoniest
The master bop blaster was named Thelonious

He could stop a Trane with a single chord
Make you feel like a Newcomber with a fast run down the keyboard
Some cats were just handing out flash
Those copping Tatum, well, Monk just ate ’em
They broke out ’round midnight in a rash

Nice work if he played behind your solo
But if you blew cliché it was a no-go
He’d drop an angular line in flawless time
And it was shown that what you’d blown was copped from another fellow

Played between the cracks
At high speed could relax
Chatter always ceased for a solo from the Priest
’cause the tension of the invention never slacked

So if you happen upon a place called Minton’s
Wind up in one of those historical sit-ins
Check out the guy taking out changes like he’s taking out Chinese
The traditional cats found it felonious
The way he put two chords together, well, it wasn’t Platonious
But what would you expect from a one-member sect
Hard to catch his name in this din
T-h-e-l-o-n-i-o-u-s, I’ll say it again

Don’t get your facts erroneous
The master bop blaster was named Thelonious
Thelonious Monk was the original gangster
Diabolic with the melodic and a rhythm-a-ning prankster
So don’t get faked by the copies; they’re the phoniest
The master bop blaster was named Thelonious