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Memphis' note: $2 Bill Turner makes an appearance here playing his absolutely essential piano part, which has been spread across piano and electric piano via the magic of MIDI. Thanks, Bill! Okay, now back to Pete:
I wrote this song as an assignment for a songwriting class I took in 1996 taught by Chan Poling (The Suburbs, The New Standards) and Chris Osgood (The Suicide Commandos).
Chan later signed on to produce Blue Sundress, the Rivertown Rats' sole CD.
People who are fans of Rocky & Bullwinkle will remember a show segment called Fractured Fairy Tales, which were droll, post-modern takes on the Hans Christian Andersen and Grimm Bros stories. This song is a fractured Christmas Carol.
It concerns the three nativities of my kids amid the social upheavals (mass layoffs, union busting, wage freezing) prevalent in the 1980's, all of which was studiously ignored in much of the contemporary media, which dutifully fed everyone with sports results and weather forecasts and other fluff and seemed to have no time for coverage of the real events of the day. Everyone loved President Reagan so much no one thought to hold his feet to the fire for the damage he was wreaking.
Lyrics:
The Son of Man was born again but maybe
One furnace hot day in July
And we innocents were slaughtered by our VPs
A move suggested by the Wise
I was there
Heard ev'ry word was said and what a sight
To see with my own eyes
Between the weather and the scores
The child arrived with the tidings of a buyout
We fired up Camels and were fired by cigars
Herod ran for a second term in office
Hollywood rolled out some big new star
I was there
Heard ev'ry word was said and what a sight
To see with my own eyes
Between the weather and the scores
The asses on TV cite stable prices
With sheepish grins we follow along
The Carpenters won't strike
Must've got everything they like
All the old tales come out sounding wrong
The Promised One showed up with his entourage
There was no room on the inside anymore
Angels appeared on TV and store shelves
Hawked between the weather and the scores
I was there
Heard ev'ry word was said and what a sight
To see with my own eyes
I was there
Heard ev'ry word was said
Ev'ry printed piece I read
Ev'ry network talking head
I was there
To see with my own eyes
Before stories were revised
And alibis analyzed
I was there
Between the weather and the scores
Between the weather and the scores
Between the weather and the scores
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