Gather 'round me, everybody
Gather 'round me while I'm preachin'
Feel a sermon comin' on me

The topic will be sin and that's what I'm ag'in'
If you want to hear my story
The settle back and just sit tight
While I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with mister in-between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium's
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, noah in the ark
What did they do just when everything looked so dark?
(Man, they said we'd better accentuate the positive)
(Eliminate the negative)
(And latch on to the affirmative)
Don't mess with mister in-between (no)
Don't mess with mister in-between
(Ya got to spread joy up to the maximum)
(Bring gloom down to the minimum)
(Have faith or pandemonium's)
(Liable to walk upon the scene)

You got to ac (yes, yes) -cent-tchu-ate the positive
Eliminate (yes, yes) the negative
And latch (yes, yes) on to the affirmative
Don't mess with mister in-between
No, don't mess with mister in-between