On a warm summer's evenin', on a channel bound for nowhere
I met up with a hacker. We were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a-flamin,' all the newbies on the server.
When boredom overtook us, he began to speak.

He said, "Son, I've made a life out of hackin' people's 'networks.
Guessin' the security by the way they wrote their code.
So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of exploits,
For a small list of some passwords, I'll give you some advice."

So I gave him some dial-ups, and told him I was a player.
He said he wanted some proof, so I showed him by bank hack.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his faced lost all expression.
He said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right.

You've got to know when to hack 'em, know when to crack 'em
Know when to go online, and when to come off.
You never 'lax your guard when you're hidin' from a tracer.
There'll be time enough for braggin' when the breachin's done.

Every hacker knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' when to use brute force or a backdoor instead.
'Cause every crack's a winner and every crack's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to outwit the feds."

And when he finished speakin', he turned back towards the server,
Wiped out a newbie and erased the directory root.
And then somewhere in the darkness, the hacker dropped his connection.
And now I knew how to pull off a righteous hack.

You've got to know when to hack 'em, know when to crack 'em
Know when to go online, and when to come off.
You never 'lax your guard when you're hidin' from a tracer.
There'll be time enough for braggin' when the breachin's done.

Repeat twice