By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 10/16/2026	Page Views: 153
Hashtags: #Music #1960s
Country Paul & The Shrimps lead a revolt against licking trading stamps.
Estimated reading time: 3 minute(s) (626 words)

In our house, I was the Green Stamp king, because I loved catalogs, and they had one: all the things you could "redeem" for books of the special stamps. I kept a box for the books, and whenever my mom came home from the grocery store, or from putting gas in the car, I eagerly took the precious green things off her hands. Then I sponged them damp so they'd stick in the little books. (Lick them? Eew!)

It took an awfully long time to fill enough books to actually get anything, though. I remember going to the Green Stamp Redemption Center in Jacksonville, but I never came home with more than a set of towels. The swan-shaped lamp in this song would have been a step up. Nobody I knew ever staged a revolt, which is a shame, because I'd have signed up. Country Joe and the Fish are known for the "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag" and its famous "Fish Cheer," and for songs about war and protest. This song wasn't performed by them. But it should have been! This version is by Country Paul & The Shrimps.

The Green Stamp Rag (We Ain't Gonna Lick No More)

By Paul S Cilwa · Performed by Country Paul & The Shrimps

Lyrics

[Spoken intro, over ragtime banjo]
All right, gather 'round, brothers and sisters, and put down your sponges. This is serious. This is the hour of decision. This is... about the stamps.

[Verse 1]
Every time you buy some groceries, every time you fill your tank,
They hand you little green squares like you're robbing a bank.
Then they tell you, "Paste 'em in the book, and soon you'll be rich!"
My tongue's been green since Kennedy, and I've got a taste I can't ditch.

[Chorus]
Hell no, we won't lick! (Hell no!)
Hell no, we won't lick! (Hell no!)
Burn your books in the bonfire, pass the matches, make it quick,
We're sick of being stuck, so hell no, we won't lick!

[Cheer]
Gimme a G! (G!)
Gimme an L! (L!)
Gimme a U! (U!)
Gimme an E! (E!)
What's that spell? (GLUE!)
What's that spell? (GLUE!)
What's that spell? (Yuck!)

[Verse 2]
Forty books for a toaster, ninety for a chair,
Three long years of licking till I had no tongue to spare.
Rolled into the Redemption Center, feeling mighty fine,
Clerk said, "Out of toasters, bub, but we've got a lamp shaped like a swan."
I said, "I licked for toast!" And that's when the protest began.

[Chorus]
Hell no, we won't lick! (Hell no!)
Hell no, we won't lick! (Hell no!)
Burn your books in the bonfire, pass the matches, make it quick,
We're sick of being stuck, so hell no, we won't lick!

[Bridge]
Join the sit-in, join the lick-in, join the love-in at the store,
Berkeley's got a Free Tongue Movement, and they're gathering by the score.
Sociologists are baffled, the Pentagon's confused,
Hey, hey, LBJ, how many books did you lick today?

[Verse 3]
Mama says, "Be patient, dear, one more page and you'll see,"
Daddy says it's patriotic: "Lick one more for liberty!"
But the Russians never lick a stamp, and look how high they fly,
Sputnik's up there smiling with a toaster in the sky!

[Final Chorus (everyone, ragged and gleeful)]
Hell no, we won't lick! (Hell no!)
Hell no, we won't lick! (Hell no!)
Burn your books in the bonfire, pass the matches, make it quick,
We're sick of being stuck, so hell no, we won't lick!

[Spoken outro, banjo winding down]
(phone rings) Hello? ...My toaster's in? Hold on, brothers and sisters, hold my place... Just one more lick. Mmm... green.

A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

That '60s Album