I have written a campaign song for Obama, to be sung to the music of "The Blues in the Night", music by Johnny Mercer, original lyrics by Harold Arlen. Here it is.
Obama Done Told Me
Obama done told me,
When he was campaigning
Obama done told me, son.
You gotta believe me,
You gotta hope with me,
So we can get the job done.
The government’s broken
It needs to be fixed, and we need to change
The way things are done.
Change that’s real is hard to come by,
Do we want the bar set so high?
Do we?
Our critics claim that they perceive
That we are simply just naïve
Are we?
Well we are audacious
In our firm hope to reach out and change
The way things are done
Watch as the special interests
Try to stop us as they
See their power slip
When we preach bi-par-ti-san-ship
You can expect the
Lobbyists to start a hue and cry
They want to stay in power, so for them
It’s do or die.
From Vegas to Des Moines,
From Memphis to St. Paul,
Wherever my campaign’s gone,
I’ve been to some big towns,
I’ve talked to some big crowds,
One thing I stress above all.
The government’s broken
And we’ll get it fixed and will indeed change
The way things are done.
Here is the original:
"Blues In The Night"
My mama done told me,
when I was in pigtails,
My mama done told me, Hon,
A man’s gonna sweet talk
And give you the big eye
But when the sweet talk is done.
A man is a two-face,
A worrisome thing who'll leave you to sing,
The blues in the night
Now the rains a-fallin'
Hear the train a-callin',
Whooee!
Hear that lonesome whistle
Blowin' cross the trestle,
Whooee
A-whooee-ah-whooee,
Clickety-clack,echoing back,
The blues in the night.
The evening breeze will start
The trees to crying and the
moon will hide its light
When you get the blues in the night
Take my word
The mocking bird ‘ill
Sing the saddest kind of song
He knows things are wrong
And he’s right
From Natchez to Mobile,
from Memphis to St. Joe,
Wherever the four winds blow.
I've been in some big towns
Heard me some big talk,
But there is one thing I know.
A man is a two-face,
A worrisome thing who'll leave you to sing,
The blues in the night
My mama was right, there’s blues in the night.
Here is Rosemary Clooney singing the original.
Greg Bachelis
www.mathpol.com
