The song you are about to hear is all about a "Saturday Night Special". Listen and see if you can guess what a Saturday Night Special is.

Saturday Night Special
Lynyrd Skynyrd

Two feets they come a-creepin'
Like a black cat do.
Two bodies a-laying restless,
Creeper thinks he's got nothing to lose.

So he creeps into the house, yea,
Unlocks the door,
And as the man's reachin' for his trousers
Shoots him full of .38 holes.

Mister Saturday Night, you're special,
You got a barrel that's blue and cold.
They ain't no good for nothing
But put a man six feet in a hole.

Big Jim's been a-drinkin' whiskey,
playin' poker on a losin' night,
Pretty soon old Jim starts thinkin'
Somebody's been cheatin' and lyin'.

Big Jim commenced to fightin',
I wouldn't you no lies.
Big Jim done pulled his pistol,
Shot his friend right between the eyes.

Mister Saturday Night, you're special,
You got a barrel that's blue and cold.
They ain't no good for nothing
But put a man six feet in a hole.

Oh, that's a Saturday Night Special
For twenty dollars you can buy yourself one, too.

Handguns are made for killin',
They ain't no good for nothing else.
And if you like to drink your whiskey,
You might even shoot yourself.

Mr. Saturday Night Special
You got a barrel that's blue and cold
You ain't no good for nothin'
But put a man six feet in a hole.

It's the Saturday Night Special
And I'd like to tell you what you could do with it
And that's the end of the song.

The unit we are going to study, like the song you have just heard, is all about the threat of crime. It starts with a burglar creeping into a house at night. The couple in the house have gone to bed, but are sleeping only lightly, "a-laying restless" as the song says. Despite creeping the burglar must have awoken the man, for he is getting up, "reachin" for his trousers', when the burglar shoots him several times, "full of holes".

Which brings us to the "Saturday Night Special" or "Mr. Saturday Night", with its "barrel blue and cold", a handgun. Despite calling it by such a familiar name, it's clear the singer has no time for the handgun. He sings of it as being good for nothing but sending people to their grave, putting down "a man six feet in a hole".

From the dangers of burglars with guns, the singer moves on to how dangerous guns can be when drinking leads to violence. We hear the story of Big Jim, the gambler. As he gets drunk, Big Jim starts to suspect he is losing at cards because others are cheating. He gets into an argument and reaches for his Saturday Night Special. He shoots his friend "right between the eyes".

Pistols in America are cheap at just twenty dollars, but the singer warns against having one. Those foolish enough to do so are not only a danger to others, but also a danger to themselves, for, as he sings at the end of the song, "if you like to drink your whiskey, you may even shoot yourself."