"Mr. Bad Example" is a song composed in 1991 by

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

and Jorge Calderón. It was used as the title track for the album, '' Mr. Bad Example''. It tells the story of a nameless

con-man A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...

and

thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

, sung to a polka. It has been described as "a hilarious shaggy dog tale of one man's love affair with global irresponsibility", and an "

antiheroic An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform action ...

credo". In the song, the narrator successfully steals from a church, customers of his father's carpet store, and even a prostitute he hired. He also has a brief stint as a lawyer, makes a fortune in hair replacement then squanders it playing chemin-de-fer, and successfully tricks and impoverishes Aboriginal Australians, aboriginals he had hired to mine for opal. The song ends with the man retiring from his dirty deals, and asking that when you meet him in the next life you wake him up for meals.

References

{{authority control 1991 songs Warren Zevon songs Songs written by Warren Zevon Songs about Australia