One, two.
One two three four.

Some code is just a big hopeless mess.
It stays around because it works fine sometimes, more or less,
And though you would love to rewrite,
Other programmers put up a fight.
I've hacked long enough to have seen
That software can be incredibly well written and clean,
But that's become all too rare
Because programmers simply no longer care.

I know it is perfection you seek
So why not take some time to redesign code that is weak.
What I'm trying to say
Is if it's broke, you should fix it today.
Programs can be hard to maintain.
The worse they're written, the more they're a big maintenance pain,
So please don't just let it slide,
It's a matter of pride.

You could be a hacker
Instead of a slacker.
I know you can code
When you are in work-all-night mode.

Go on, you've got nothing to lose
You can rewrite or just debug, whichever you choose.
The bugs won't leave by themselves.
No, the fixes won't be put in by elves.
Some code is just a big heap of trash
That can't run for hours without having a serious crash.
Most programmers soon run and hide
But then to them it's not a matter of pride.

I don't understand how
Source code that's so bad now
Can still be around
After errors and glitches were found.

Bad programs are unstable and slow.
They seem to stop every time you really need them to go,
And the odds they will work at all
Range from zero to a number quite small.
Some code suffered a major decline,
A jumbled mess from what began with a nifty design.
So fix it, don't sweep it aside,
Because good code should be a matter of pride.

It's a matter of pride,
Should always be a matter of pride.

It's a matter of pride,
Yes, it's always been a matter of pride.