Songs That Tell Stories

I heard "Monkey Man" a few years ago...reading the words, I now see why it doesn't get airplay!

I love ballads. Here are a few of the ones I like:

One Tin Soldier, from the movie "The Legend Of Billy Jack"

Especially this time of year, how about John Fogerty's [url=http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/centerfi.htm]Center Field?

What about Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald?

A couple from Nick Cave:

CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING
Nick Cave

Christina the Astonishing
Lived a long time ago
She was stricken with a seizure
At the age of twenty-two
They took her body in a coffin
To a tiny church in Liege
Where she sprang up from the coffin
Just after the Agnus Dei
She soared up to the rafters
Perched on a beam up there
Cried "The stink of human sin
Is more that I can bear"
Christina the Astonishing
Was the most astonishing of all
She prayed balanced on a hurdle
Or curled up into a ball
She fled to remote places
Climbed towers and trees and walls
To escape the stench of human corruption
Into an oven she did crawl
O Christina the Astonishing
Behaved in a terrifying way
She would run wildly through the streets
Jump in the Meusse and swim away
O Christina the Astonishing
Behaved in terrifying manner
Died at the age of seventy-four
In the convent of St Anna

THE CARNY
Nick Cave

And no-one saw the Carny go
And the weeks flew by
Until they moved on the show
Leaving his caravan behind
It was parked out on the south east ridge
And as the company crossed the bridge
With the first rain filling the bone-dry river bed
It shone, just so, upon the edge
away, away we're sad to say

Dog-boy, Atlas, Man-drake, the geeks, the hired hands
There was not one among them that did not cast an eye behind
In the hope that the Carny would return to his own kind

The Carny left behind a horse so skin and bone that he'd named Sorrow
And it was a shallow unmarked grave
That that old nag was laid
In the then parched meadow

And it was the dwarves that were given the task of digging the ditch
And laying the nag's carcass in the ground
while boss Bellini, waved his smoking pistol 'round
Saying ''The nag was dead meat''
''We can't afford to carry dead weight''
The whole company standing about
Not making a sound
And turning to the dwarves on the enclosured gate
the boss says ''bury this lump of crow bait''

And the rain came hammering down
Everybody running for their wagons
Tying all the canvas flaps down
The mangy cats growling in their cages
The bird-girl flapping and squawkening around
The whole valley reeking of wet beast
Wet beast and rotten, sodden hay
Freak and brute creation all packed up and on their way

The three dwarves peering through their wagon's hind
Moses says to Noah ''We shoulda dugga deepa one''
Their grissom faces like dying moons
Still dirty from the digging done

And Charlie the Atlas to the three said
"I guess the Carny ain't gonna show"
And they were silent for a spell
wishing they'd done a better job at burrying Sorrow

And the company'd passed from the valley into higher ground
The rain beat on the ridge and on the meadow and on the mound
Until nothing was left, nothing left at all
Except the body of Sorrow that rose in time
To float upon the surface of the eaten soil

And a murder of crows did circle 'round
First one, then the others flapping blackly down

And the Carny's van still sat upon the edge
Tilting slowly as the firm ground turned to sludge

And the rain it hammered down
And the rain it hammered down
And the rain it hammered down
And the rain it hammered down

And no-one saw the Carny go
And no-one saw the Carny go
And no-one saw the Carny go
I say its funny how things go

a fave of mine from nick cave

God's Hotel Lyrics

Everybody got a room
Everybody got a room
Everybody got a room
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got a room.
Well you'll never see a sign hanging on the door
Sayin 'No vacancies anymore'.


Everybody got wings
Everybody got wings
Everybody got wings
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got wings.
You'll never see a sign hanging on the door
Sayin 'At no time may both feet leave the floor'


Everybody got a harp
Everybody got a harp
Everybody got a harp
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got a harp.
You'll never see a sign hanging on the wall
Sayin 'No harps allowed in the hotel at all'.


Everybody got a cloud
Everybody got a cloud
Everybody got a cloud
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got a cloud.
You'll never see a sign hanging on the wall
Sayin 'Smoking and drinking will be thy downfall'.


Everybody hold a hand
Everybody hold a hand
Everybody hold a hand
In God's Hotel.
Everybody hold a hand.
You'll never see a sign hung up above your door
'No visitors allowed in rooms, By law!'


Everybody's halo shines
Everybody's halo shines
Everybody's halo shines
In God's Hotel.
Everybody's halo lookin' fine.
You won't see a sign staring at you from the wall
Sayin 'Lights out! No burnin the midnight oil!'


Everybody got credit
Everybody got credit
Everybody got credit
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got good credit.
You'll never see a sign stuck on the cash-box drawer
Sayin 'Credit tommorow!!' or 'Want credit?!? Haw, haw haw!!'


Everybody is blind
Everybody is blind
Everybody is blind
In God's Hotel.
Everybody is blind.
You'll never see a sign on the front door
'No red skins. No Blacks. And that means you, baw!'


Everybody is deaf
Everybody is deaf
Everybody is deaf
In God's Hotel.
Everybody is deaf.
You'll never find a sign peeling off the bar-room wall
'Though shalt not blaspheme, cuss, holler or bawl'.


Everybody is dumb
Everybody is dumb
Everybody is dumb
In God's Hotel.
Everybody is dumb.
So you'll never see on the visiting-room wall
'Though shalt not blaspheme, cuss, holler or bawl'.


Everybody got Heaven
Everybody got Heaven
Everybody got Heaven
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got Heaven.
So you'll never see scribbled on the bathroom wall
'Let Rosy get ya Heaven, dial 686-844!'

The All Golden
(Van Dyke Parks)

He is not your run of the mill garden variety Alabama country faire. Left on Silver Lake he keeps a small apartment top an Oriental food store there. He returned from Alabama to see what he could see.

Off the record he is hungry though he works hard in his Alabama country fair. I should think he'd fade away the way that Bohemians often bare the frigid air. He returned from Alabama to see what he could see.

Constant commentary by the wayside. Nowadays them country boys don't cotton much to one two three four. Rest your team. Work out in the All Golden! You will know why hayseeds go back to the country.

Constant calm might still our stately union. Nowadays a Yankee dread not take his time to wend to sea. Forget to bear your arms in the All Golden. You will know why hayseeds go back to the country. Might as well not 'low for one more go round. That's all folks. Them hayseeds go back to the country. Ja git it? Alright.

Van Dyke Parks is a wonderful lyricist, this is from Surf's Up by The Beach Boys-

A diamond necklace played the pawn
Hand in hand some drummed along, oh
To a handsome man and baton
A blind class aristocracy
Back through the opera glass you see
The pit and the pendulum drawn
Columnated ruins domino

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping?

Hung velvet overtaken me
Dim chandelier awaken me
To a song dissolved in the dawn
The music hall a costly bow
The music all is lost for now
To a muted trumperter swan
Columnated ruins domino

Canvass the town and brush the backdrop
Are you sleeping, brother john?

Dove nested towers the hour was
Strike the street quicksilver moon
Carriage across the fog
Two-step to lamp lights cellar tune
The laughs come hard in auld lang syne

The glass was raised, the fired rose
The fullness of the wine, the dim last toasting
While at port adieu or die

A choke of grief hard hardened i
Beyond belief a broken man too tough to cry

Surf's up
Aboard a tidal wave
Come about hard and join
The young and often spring you gave
I heard the word
Wonderful thing
A children's song

Artificial Flowers
Bobby Darin
Written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick

Alone in the world was poor little Anne
As sweet a young child as you'd find.
Her parents had gone to their final reward
Leavin' their baby behind.

((Did you hear?)
This poor little child was only nine years of age
when mother and dad went away;
Still brav-el-y worked
At the one thing she knew
to earn her few pennies a day.

She made artificial flowers, artificial flowers,
Flowers for ladies of fashion to wear;
She made artificial flowers, you know those artificial flowers,
Fashions from Annie's despair.

With paper and shears, with some wire and wax
She made up each tulip and mum.
As snowflakes drifted into her tenement room
Her baby little fingers grew numb.

From makin' artificial flowers, those artificial flowers
Flowers for ladies of high fashion to wear.
She made artificial flowers, artificial flowers
Made from Annie's despair.

They found little Annie all covered in ice
Still clutchin' her poor frozen shears
Amidst all the blossoms she had fashioned by hand
And watered with all her young tears.

There must be a heaven where little Annie can play
In heavenly gardens and bowers.
And instea-a-ad of a halo she'll wear 'round her head
A garland of genuine flowers.

No more artificial flowers;
Throw away those artificial flowers,
Flowers for ladies of society to wear.
Throw away those artificial flowers,
Those dumb-dumb flowers,
Fashioned from Annie's,
Fashioned from A-a-a-annie's
Des-pa-a-a-air.
(Give her the real thing!

two canadian drinking stories

They Oughtta Bottle Friday Night

Bob Snider

The moon is round and full tonight
the dark is at it's lightest.
The boys are bent on gettin' tight
and the girls are in their tightest.

An' so and so's with such and such
and causing some surprise.
An' buddy over here doesn't like that much,
you can see it in his eyes.

Inside the music's playing
through the window shining bright.
There's nothing for the system
like a shot of Friday night.

The boys are on the corner,
they're lookin' tough and bored.
The great debate is raging
- Chevy or Ford.

And sometimes someone goes too far
and tempers will get frayed.
And honour has to be upheld
when comments are made.

And sometimes it gets ugly,
and sometimes it's all right.
And everythin' comes to a head
on a Friday night.

They oughtta bottle Friday night
It would make the perfect cure
and if they could can Monday morning
why, we'd have 'er made for sure.

A sudden roar of engine.
A large cloud of exhaust.
He lays a strip of rubber down
that shows how much he's lost.

He goes into a power turn
around the old stop sign
and the wheels squeal into a brake burn
that sends the gravel flyin'.
And the empties all go overboard
as he tears along the line.
He can come back for them later.
They help to pay the fine.

But the cops can't crisscross
every back road runnin' across the region
and the only law that gets respect
is hats off in the Legion.

The hall is full of revelers,
they come here to forget.
So far they're bein' successful
but the night ain't over yet.

And the times are gettin' tighter
so you may as well get tight.
And everyone agrees with that
on a Friday night.

They oughtta bottle Friday night
they'd have their fortunes made.
And if they could can Monday morning
we'd all be sittin' in the shade.

Well you can dream about a better tomorrow
You could win the lottery.
You could be the contestant
on a game show on T.V.

There's a hundred thousand different ways
to get out of the trap.
There's a giant contest goin' on
under every bottle cap.

And one of them's a winner.
And I wonder under which?
And the rules are on the wrapper
and the wrapper's in the ditch.

Yeah, I guess you could say they're a little be rough hewn.
And they may include a couple of scufflers.
And they're not too big on the niceties
like neck ties or mufflers.

But if you need some work done
They'll make you up a crew.
Not only will they build you a house
- They'll party in it too
And when the party's over
and they all fade out of sight
why you got yourself the memory of
another Friday night.

They oughtta bottle Friday night
it would outsell every brand.
And if they wanna do us all a favour
they could get Monday morning canned.


Sudbury Saturday Night

Stompin' Tom Connors

Chorus:
The girls are out to Bingo and the boys are gettin' stinko,
And we think no more of Inco on a Sudbury Saturday night.
The glasses they will tinkle when our eyes begin to twinkle,
And we'll think no more of Inco on a Sudbury Saturday night.

With Irish Jim O'Connel there and Scotty Jack MacDonald,
There's honky Fredrick Hurchell gettin' tight, but that's alright,
There's happy German Fritzy there with Frenchy getting tipsy,
And even Joe the Gypsy knows it's Saturday tonight.

Now when Mary Ann and Mabel come to join us at the table,
And tell us how the Bingo went tonight, we'll look a fright.
But if they won the money, we'll be lappin' up the honey, boys,
'Cause everything is funny, for it's Saturday tonight.

Chorus, chorus instrumental

We'll drink the loot we borrowed and recuperate tomorrow,
'Cause everything is wonderful tonight, we had a good fight,
We ate the Dilly Pickle and we forgot about the Nickel,
And everybody's tickled, for it's Saturday tonight.

The songs that we'll be singing, they might be wrong but they'll be ringing,
When the lights of town are shining bright, and we're all tight,
We'll get to work on Monday, but tomorrow's only Sunday,
And we're out to have a fun day for it's Saturday tonight. Yeah!

Chorus

We'll think no more of Inco on a Sudbury Saturday night.

The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades

I study nuclear science
I love my classes
I got a crazy teacher, he wears dark glasses
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I've got a job waiting for my graduation
Fifty thou a year -- buys a lot of beer
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
Well I'm heavenly blessed and worldly wise
I'm a peeping-tom techie with x-ray eyes
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I study nuclear science
I love my classes
I got a crazy teacher, he wears dark glasses
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades, I gotta wear shades

Timbuck 3

Come O My Love

The Winter has gone and the leaves turn green
The Winter has gone and the leaves turn green
Your innocent face, I wish I never had seen

Come o my love and fare you well
Come o my love and fare you well
You slighted me, but I wish you well

The rope was brought and the bow was swung
The rope was brought and the bow was swung
An innocent man you have all hung

Come o my love and see me die
Come o my love and see me die
Lift your innocent face, see me dance in the sky

At Seventeen
( Janis Ian )

I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired

The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth

And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say come dance with me
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems
At seventeen

A brown eyed girl in hand me downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said, pity please the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve

The rich relationed hometown queen
Married into what she needs
A guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly

Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
Indebentures of quality
And dubious integrity
Their small town eyes will gape at you
In dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received
At seventeen

To those of us who know the pain
Of valentines that never came
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball

It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
And dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me

We all play the game and when we dare
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
That call and say, come dance with me
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me
At seventeen

sung by Carly Simon

India Arie

Sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't
Sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't
Depend on how the wed blows I might even paint my toes
It really just depends on whatever feels good in my soul

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Aria

When I look in the mirror the only one there is me
Every freckle on my face is where it's supposed to be
And I know our creator didn't make no mistakes on me
My feet, my thighs, my lips, my eyes I'm lovin' what I see

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Aria

Am I less of a lady If I don't wear panty hoes?
My momma says a Lady ain't what she wears but, what she knows
But, I've drawn a conclusion, it's all and illusion confusions the name of the game
A misconception, a vast deception
Something's gotta change
Don't be offended this is all my opinion
ain't nothing that I'm sayin law
This is a true confession of a life learned lesson I was sent here to share wit ya'll
So get in where you fit in go on and shine
Free your mind, nows the time
Put your salt on the shelf
Go head and love yourself
Cuz everything's gonna be all right

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Aria

Keep your fancy drinks and your expensive minks
I don't need that to have a good time
Keep your expensive car and your Caviar
All I need is my guitar
Keep your krystyle and your pistol
I'd rather have a pretty piece of Crystal
Don't need your silicone I prefer my own
What God gave me is just fine

I'm not the average girl from your video
and I ain't built like a supermodel
But, I Learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
I'm not the average girl from your video
My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes
No matter what I'm wearing I will always be India Arie

Cindy Oh Cindy Lyrics
Artist: Eddie Fisher


I joined the Navy to see the world
But nowhere could I find
A girl as sweet as Cindy
The girl I left behind
I've searched the wide world over
Can't get her out of my mind

Cindy, oh Cindy
Cindy don't let me down
Write me a letter soon
And I'll be homeward bound

I see her face in every wave
Her lips kiss every breeze
Her loving arms reach out to me
Through calm and stormy seas
At night I pace the lonely deck
Pressed by memories

Cindy, oh Cindy
Cindy don't let me down
Write me a letter soon
And I'll be homeward bound


I know my Cindy's waiting for me
As I walk the decks alone
Her loving arms reach out to me
Soon I'll be heading home
Then my sailing days will be over
No more will I roam

Cindy, oh Cindy
Cindy don't let me down
Write me a letter soon
And I'll be homeward bound

Thank you EdgarBlythe

NOAH


Brothers?
Yeah
Sisters?
Yeah
Says here in Genesis, one chapter one
In the beginning God made the earth
And also says here in Genesis, six chapter six
That the children of Israel were sinning, they were sinning
What did I say? They were sinning
That's exactly what I said
And when God saw them sinning
It hurt Him to his heart, it hurt Him so bad
It made Him mad, it made Him so mad he was angry
And when God got angry the sky turned dark
And it was than that he told Noah to build the ark
Who built the ark, Noah
Who built the ark, Noah
Who built the ark, Noah, Noah
Noah built that ark
Children stop, listen to me
God walked down by the Briny sea
Beheld evil of the sinful men
Declared that he would destroy the land
Spoke to Noah Brother Noah stopped.
He said look a here Noah build me a ark
I want you to build it big and strong
Build it 300 cubits long, 30 high, about 50 wide
I want it to stand my rain and tide
On this day I make my mark
In a 100 years I want that ark
When I get thru with this evil land
Not a living thing is gonna stand
Except the things that I tell to you
That I'm gonna need , when the world is new
I've been east and I've been west
I decided to put this world at rest
I've been up and I've been down
Nothing but evil all around
I've seen brother turn against brother
I've decided it'll go no further
Women weep and children mourn
Sorry the day that man was born
Sinful people one by one
Sorry the day my wrath begun
Sorry the day my wrath begun
Sorry the day my wrath begun
Sorry the day my wrath begun
`Cause it's gonna rain
`Cause it's gonna rain
`Cause it's gonna rain
`Cause it's gonna rain
And on this land is my land
Not a living thing is gonna stand
'Cause it's gonna rain
`Cause it's gonna rain
`Cause it's gonna rain
`Cause it's gonna rain

Who built the ark? Noah. Yeah
Who built the ark? Noah. Yeah
Who built the ark? Noah Noah
Noah built the ark
Well God told him what to do
Then the work began cut and hewed
Ringing o´ the hammer was "judgment"
Ringing o´ the saw "God said repent"
100 years he hammered and sawed
Building the ark by the grace of God
After the foundation was laid
Heaved down the timber and the ark was made
Called in the animals two by two
There was the Ox, the Camel and the Kangaroo
Followed with the monkey and the crocodile
And the little baby animals that couldn't smile
Packed them in the ark so tight
They all couldn't get no sleep that night
Called in Japheth and Shem and Ham
God began to flood the land
Raised his hand to heaven on high
And knocked that sun and the moon from the sky
Shook the mountains and stirred the sea
Hitched his reins to his Chariot Wheel
Stepped on land and split out the shore
There is time for to be no more
There is time for to be no more
Thre is time for to be no more
Cause it's gonna rain
Cause it's gonna rain
Cause it's gonna rain
Cause it's gonna rain

Feudin' and fussin' and a-fightin,'
Sometimes it gets to be excitin,'
Don't like them ornery neighbors down by the creek,
We'll be plumb out of neighbors next week.
Grandma, poor ol' grandma,
Why'd they have to shoot poor grandma.
She lies 'neath the clover
Someone caught her bending over
Pickin' up a daisy!
Feduin' and fussin' and a-fightin'
This is a wrong that needs a rightin,'
Let's get that funeral service over
So then we can start in a-feudin' again.

Feudin' and fightin' and a-fussin,'
That's all that's goin' on with us'n.
We are such neighborly people peaceful and sweet,
All except when we happen to meet.
Daughter, baby daughter,
Poisened all the neighbors chickens.
Daughter hadn't oughter
Least 'till she could run like the dickens.
They hit her with a shovel!
Feudin' and fightin' and a-fussin'
No use a-standin' here a-cussin,'
Let's give our daughter a pistol now that she's four
And go feudin' and fightin' some more.

Pete Seeger, the famous folk musician who recorded songs about oppressed Americans, took notice of the voting rights struggle in West Tennessee. Here is a lyric from Seeger's "Fayette County," on the album "Pete Seeger Story Songs." Words by S. Cunningham.

"They kept us from voting for nearly a hundred years,

And all because our color is not the same as theirs.

But now we've gone and voted and we live in tents today.

Our families cold and hungry but here is what we say:

We were born in Fayette County here we will stay.

It will take more than hunger to drive us away."

Two from Gil Scott-Heron:

THE BOTTLE

See that black boy over there, runnin' scared
his ol' man's in a bottle.
He done quit his 9 to 5 to drink full time
so now he's livin' in the bottle.
See that Black boy over there, runnin' scared
his ol' man got a problem
Pawned off damn near everything, his ol'
woman's weddin' ring for a bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.

See that sista, sho wuz fine before she
started drinkin' wine
from the bottle.
Said her ol' man committed a crime
and he's doin' time,
so now she's in the bottle.
She's out there on the avenue, all by herself
sho' needs help from the bottle.
Preacherman tried to help her out,
she cussed him out and hit him in the head with a bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.

See that gent in the wrinkled suit
he done damn near blown his cool
to the bottle
He wuz a doctor helpin' young girls along
if they wuzn't too far gone to have problems.
But defenders of the dollar eagle
Said "What you doin', Doc, it ain't legal,"
and now he's in the bottle.
Now we watch him everyday tryin' to
chase the pigeons away
from the bottle.
And don't you think it's a crime
when time after time, people in the bottle.


THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back
after a message about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

I do see your point...still, I love these guys...Dylan frequently makes me laugh! What a blow to lose Roy Orbison.

There's room in my collection for both Traveling Wilburys' volumes. I regret there won't be more.

Memphis Tennessee - Chuck Berry

Long distance information, give me Memphis Tennessee
Help me find the party trying to get in touch with me
She could not leave her number, but I know who placed the call
'Cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall

Help me, information, get in touch with my Marie
She's the only one who'd phone me here from Memphis Tennessee
Her home is on the south side, high up on a ridge
Just a half a mile from the Mississippi Bridge

Help me, information, more than that I cannot add
Only that I miss her and all the fun we had
But we were pulled apart because her mom did not agree
And tore apart our happy home in Memphis Tennessee

Last time I saw Marie she's waving me good-bye
With hurry home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye
Marie is only six years old, information please
Try to put me through to her in Memphis Tennessee

great song edgar, one of my all time faves