I went to buy computers, and they said a million bucks

For a brand new mainframe IBM, now that price really sucks

So I looked at all the pictures, and I chose to build my own

For you can build a mainframe from the things you find at home

Oh, IBM, DEC, and Honeywell; HP, DG and Wang

Amdahl, NEC, and NCR, they don't know anything

They make big bucks for systems, so they never want it known

That you can build a mainframe from the things you find at home

Now, take the CPU, you see it's only just a box

With blinking lights and whirring fans and lots of cable slots

So I spent an evening working with some wire and bulbs and pins

Then I hauled it to the basement and I plugged the freezer in

Oh, IBM, DEC, and Honeywell; HP, DG and Wang

Amdahl, NEC, and NCR, they don't know anything

They make big bucks for systems, so they never want it known

That you can build a mainframe from the things you find at home

Well, next I needed tape drives, my tape drives were a steal

I climbed into the attic for my dad's old reel-to-reel

Some cable and some binder twine, and soon it was complete:

My CPU and tape drive at a price no one can beat

Oh, IBM, DEC, and Honeywell; HP, DG and Wang

Amdahl, NEC, and NCR, they don't know anything

They make big bucks for systems, so they never want it known

That you can build a mainframe from the things you find at home

So then I looked for disk drives, but it didn't take me long

Function follows form, they say, or have I got that wrong?

I found a drive with five new modes that blows the rest away:

Cottons, linens, wash and wear, rinse, and lingerie!

Oh, IBM, DEC, and Honeywell; HP, DG and Wang

Amdahl, NEC, and NCR, they don't know anything

They make big bucks for systems, so they never want it known

That you can build a mainframe from the things you find at home

Well, I had to have a console just to make my system run

Without a fancy console then my system wasn't done

So, I tied a ten-buck typer to a broken TV tube

And now I've got a console that can write the evening news

Oh, IBM, DEC, and Honeywell; HP, DG and Wang

Amdahl, NEC, and NCR, they don't know anything

They make big bucks for systems, so they never want it known

That you can build a mainframe from the things you find at home

I've had my system running - I'll admit it's not the best

The data isn't right, and the response time is a mess

It crashes every hour, and it isn't worth a damn

But I'm satisfied because it runs just like an IBM!

Oh, IBM, DEC, and Honeywell; HP, DG and Wang

Amdahl, NEC, and NCR, they don't know anything

They make big bucks for systems, so they never want it known

That you can build a mainframe from the things you find at home

Yes, you can bulid a mainframe from the things you find at home