( Ac-cent-thu-ate the positive,  
e-lim-inate the negative,  
ac-cent-thu-ate the positive, an' latch on! ) 
  
You gotta accent-thu-ate the positive, 
E-lim-inate the negative, 
An' latch on  
To the affirmative  
Don't mess with Mister in-between! 
  
You gotta spread joy up to the maximum, 
Bring gloom down to the minimum, 
An' have faith ( Amen! ) 
Or pandemonium's 
Liable to walk upon the scene! 
  
To illustrate  
My last remark 
Jonah in the whale! 
Noah in the arc!  
An' what did they do  ( What did they do? ) 
Just when everything looked so dark?  
  
( What did they, what did they, what did they do? ) 
  
Man! they said 
You better accent-thu-ate the positive, 
E-lim-inate the negative, 
An' latch on  
To the affirmative  
Don't mess with Mister in-between! 
No,  don't mess with Mister in-between! 
  
( To illustrate  
His last remark 
Jonah in the whale! 
Noah in the arc! ) 
An' what did they do   
( What did they do?  
Just when everything looked so dark?  
What did they do, what did they do? ) 
  
Man! they said 
You better accent-thu-ate the positive, 
E-lim-inate the negative, 
An' latch on  
To the affirmative  
Don't mess with Mister in-between! 
No,  don't mess with Mister in-between! 
No,  don't you mess with Mister in-between! 
No,  don't mess with Mister in-between!