When the system's dead before us like a pile of high-tech junk
And we've got one week to deadline or our jobs will all be sunk
And those changes and revisions growing greater ev'ry day
It's about this time we realize that all we can do is pray
CHORUS: So we'll pray to Brian Kernighan and to Dennis Ritchie too
And the gods of C and UNIX who will help us to make do
Oh you gods of Bell and System V you have us in your care
We hope that you will listen to a software hacker's prayer
Our first prayer goes to Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home
Since we're living with these terminals (at least until we're done)
Won't you aid us as we program and please help to save the lives
Of our college co-op students who've spilled coffee on the drives
CHORUS
Our next prayer's to Mnemosyne, goddess of all memory
Since we've only got 8 meg and we have got to keep half free
Won't you aid us with the problem that us keeping us here nights
And please find some place for us to put another million bytes
CHORUS
We'll be supplicants of Hermes, mighty god of things that speed
Can't you find it for to help us in our hour of deepest need?
Won't you please speed our compiler, so we don't sit on the dock
And then maybe give a boost to our computer's central clock?
CHORUS
Our final prayer we send to the Erinyes down in Hell
Where we hope that they will hear us and then take revenge as well
We would like to see them spend some time in chasing down the one
Who'll come in with more revisions just about the time we're done!
CHORUS