Jake Hamon, 1920

Jake Hamon was an oil millionaire who tried to bankroll the presidential campaign of Warren G. Harding in exchange for the cabinet position of Secretary of the Interior.  It was Hamon who thought up the nefarious Tea Pot Dome scheme, a scheme that would have given him millions in oil money siphoned off of national oil reserves.  The only thing standing in the way of the cabinet post was Mrs. Harding, who was related to Hamon's legal wife.  The ballad tells the story of how Jake took the road of money and power and paid the price at the hands of a vengeful woman.  The AAFM reference here is the ballad called Old Lady and the Devil.  

Jake Hamon, 1920

1.  This is my story from way beyond the grave
In the veil of tears,  Jake Hamon was my name
Though I was rich, and Oklahoma was my home
I had my eyes on the hills of Teapot Dome.

2.  Where there is oil, there's money to be made
And where there's money, the game is boldly played
To get near the power of that Presidential throne
I kept my eyes on the hills of Teapot dome.

3.  For Warren Harding, it was whiskey, skirts, cigars
And he loved his poker,  I could see it in his face
Looked like a president, I always told him so.
Eyes on the prize in the hills of Teapot Dome.

4.  Now Harry Daugherty was the man you had to see.
He was the power and he ran the G O P.
We drank three hours, 'fore I threw that dog a bone,
All for the prize in the hills of Teapot Dome.

5.  We did it for the power, like all good businessmen.
Senator Harding, he knows how to treat a friend.
Couple million dollars it bought a cabinet post.
It was lookin' good for the hills of Teapot dome.

6.  Now my darling Clara, she'd been with me for years.
It was cause of her, that I left my wife in tears.
When I got the letter I learned my wife was kin
To Mrs. Harding, now the trouble all begins.

7.  To get the job, it's Clara I must leave.
Back to my wife and children I must go.
I set Clara up, so wealthy she would be,
Little did I know how she'd settle up with me.

8.  When I came home I'd had a drink or two.
Went straight to bed and the next thing that I knew,
My darling Clara pulled a pistol from her purse.
She pulled the trigger, put a bullet in my chest.

9.  As I lay bleeding I crawled across the floor.
Somehow I got up and I staggered out the door,  
Looking for a doctor, a taxi, or a friend.
It's  five days later, that's when my story ends.  

10.  Oh Clara, Clara, what have you done to me
First to steal my heart, and then to murder me.
For money and power, I gambled all I owned,
Now I'm haunting graves in the hills of Teapot Dome.

Copyright © 2009, 2014 by David Larstein, all rights reserved.

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