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Mon 11 Apr, 2005 03:49 pm
I saw the question about favorite Elvis songs and I was thinking about all of his songs that I like. One that I like is "In The Ghetto" and one of the reasons I like it is that it tells a story in a circular manner:
As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'Cause if there's one thing that she don't need
It's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto
People, don't you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way
Well the world turns
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto
And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
And he learns how to steal
And he learns how to fight
In the ghetto
Then one night in desperation
A young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
Tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries
As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
Face down in the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto
As her young man dies,
On a cold and grey Chicago mornin',
Another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
Yet another circular song I really like is "Think About Your Troubles" by Harry Nillson:
Sit beside the breakfast table
Think about your troubles
Pour yourself a cup of tea
And think about the bubbles
You can take your teardrops
And drop them in a teacup
Take them down to the riverside
And throw them over the side
To be swept up by a current
And taken to the ocean
To be eaten by some fishes
Who were eaten by some fishes
And swallowed by a whale
Who grew so old
He decomposed
He died and left his body
To the bottom of the ocean
Now evverybody knows
That when a body decomposes
The basic elements
Are given back to the ocean
And the sea does what it oughta
And soon there's salty water
(That's not too good for drinking)
'Cause it tastes just like a teardrop
(So they run it through a filter)
And it comes out from a faucet
(And is poured into a teapot)
Which is just about to bubble
Now think about your troubles
Other than "The Song That Never Ends" can you think of any other songs that go in circles?
There's a hole in the bucket
That's a great one, roger!
Except now I'll be "Dear Liza, dear Liza"ing until I drive everyone nuts.
In the getto isn't a "circular" song it is a perfectly sound social comment on america's failed political system where the poor are concerned.
This boy is born in a getto to an uneducated woman and man who the american government consider to be nothing more than factory fodder, they dont care what squalor these people live in they are there to be cheap labour for capitalists to make money off.
Stallone came out of Hells Kitchen to be a wealthy and famous actor 99.9999 dont, and many turn to crime, become gang members, and drug pushers etc., and many end up "face down in the street with a gun in their hand, in the ghetto"
I never rated Elvis at all but this was one song that, whether you like it or not was, as americans say, "right on the money"
I agree with what you're saying Don but I do think it is a circular song - just as the ghetto problem it speaks of is a generational problem.
This boy is born into a hopeless situation, he dies, but yet another child is born into the same circumstance.
The last verse leads right back to the start and the whole thing starts again.
Sadly, I think it's way, way bigger than America.
There's a Hole in the Bucket, sung by Belafonte
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza dear Liza
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza a hole
Go fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Go fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza dear Liza
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza with what
With a straw dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw
But the straw is too long, dear Liza dear Liza
The straw is too long, dear Liza too long
Cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Cut it, dear Henry, dear Henry, cut it
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza, dear Liza
With what shall I cut it, dear Liza with what
With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
With an axe, dear Henry, dear Henry, with an axe
The axe is too dull, dear Liza, dear Liza
The axe is too dull, dear Liza too dull
Sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Sharpen it, dear Henry, dear Henry, hone it
On what shall I sharpen it, dear Liza dear Liza
On what shall I hone it, dear Liza on what
On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
On a stone, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a stone
But the stone is too dry, dear Liza dear Liza
The stone is too dry, dear Liza too dry
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Well wet it, dear Henry, dear Henry, wet it
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza, dear Liza
With what shall I wet it, dear Liza with what
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Try water, dear Henry, dear Henry, use water
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza, dear Liza
In what shall I fetch it, dear Liza in what
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
In a bucket, dear Henry, dear Henry, in a bucket
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza
There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza a hole
Stumble It!
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