Songs adapted or parodied by Sarah Underhill, plus one unrecorded original melodramatic ballad
Donald Trump's Lament
This goofy topical song was written in celebration after I heard a news item on the radio which made me laugh aloud. The song tells the story of the news clip. It must have been back in the 80's, when Glasnost was happening and the old Soviet Union ceased to exist. Trump had invited Gorbachev to meet with him, but the Soviet leader did not fit this request into his schedule. The tune is from Bessie Smith's "My Sweetie Went Away". True to form, Trump responded to the ensuing prank by insulting Gorbachev's wife.
I'm gonna tell you a story from New York town
It's very sad to relate
'Bout how the poor little rich boy, Donald Trump
Got stood up by a head of state
Trump was floating one afternoon
In the swimming pool in his living room
And as he checked his watch for the hundredth time
He began to cry:
Oh, Gorbachev's in town but he didn't stop by,
He didn't say hi, he didn't say why
I'm such a wonderful guy
How come he wont see me?
There was an out of work actor walking the streets
Who was a Gorbachev lookalike
And he borrowed a limo and a big fur hat
When he heard about Trump's terrible plight
At the Trump Towers gates a crowd gathered round
Trump heard the news and came running down
But when he went to shake the actor's hand
Folks began to smile
Oh, Gorbachev's in town but he's just passing through
Got too much to do, it's strange but it's true
You may own this town but
He ain't got time for you
Because he's bringing the word to the old UN
He's got a Christmas gift for our G.I.'s
He's going to send them home, so tell the Pentagon
To cut back on their orders for new war toys
Instead of drinking champagne with Donald Trump
He sent the defense industry into a slump
Now Don he made you look like a jerk
And some of your friends may be out of work
Yes, Gorbachev's in town and he's doing just great
He's looking for peace
Not for real estate
So try and understand Don
We know it's hard for you.....
Song For the Inexorable March of Technology
[based on the traditional lullaby "Hush Little Baby."] 7-4-2013
Hush little baby, don't make a moan
Mama's going to buy you a gramaphone
If that gramaphone is jive
Mama's going to play you a 45
If that vinyl record does crack
Mama's going to buy you a new 8-track
If that 8-track player does break
Mama's going to play you a cassette tape
When that tape player becomes passe'
Mama's going to buy you a CD to play
When that CD is obsolete
Mama's going to play you an MP3
If that MP3 is much too loud
Mama's going to put it up in the cloud
And when that cloud falls from the sky
Mama's going to sing you a lullaby
Blueberry Picker's Reel 8/6/2011
Thanks to Larry Hanks on, whose "Apple Picker's Reel" this song is based. Used with permission.
Chorus:
Hey ho, don't you feel so fine
Looking out across the mountain in the bright sunshine
Hey ho, don't you feel so free
Picking the highbush blueberry
Well long about August or late July
Tomatoes are ripe and the corn is high
That's when we head up the Shawngum Trail
For highbush berries in the blueberry pail
Well low bush is fine but it takes all day
And you break your back if you pick that way
Highbush grows like grapes in a bunch
You can pick half a bushel 'fore it's time for lunch
Sun's so hot that my head's half baked
And I almost stepped on a big rattlesnake
Bears and coyotes and the gnats and bees
But it's worth it all to get berries like these
Well it's permaculture like a thousand years ago
Berries are free up on the Smiley Road
And long about December in the snow and ice
Blueberry pancakes gonna taste mighty nice
Ballad of the Corona 5/6/2020
Based on "Ballad of the Boll Weevil"
Oh the first time I saw the Corona
It was floating through the air
Next time I saw the Corona
It had the whole family there
Just lookin for a home
Just lookin for a home
Oh the next time I saw the Corona
It was riding in a subway car
Corona said to the conductor
I'm gonna travel near and far
Just lookin for a home
Just lookin for a home
Oh the warden took the Corona
Put it in a prison cell
Corona said to the warden
You're treating me mighty well
I've got a home
I've got a home
Oh the doctor took the Corona
Put it in the ICU
Corona said to the doctor
What a neighborly thing to do
Now I've got a home
I've got a home
If anybody ask you
Who was it sang this song
Say it was just an old prison nurse
With a reused facemask on
And it's full of holes
It's full of holes
Holy Ground
Alternate/adapted lyrics to the Shape Note Hymn "Windgate"
The circle we are gathered round
This ground is holy ground
Love is waiting to be found
This ground is holy ground
All the fields and mountains high
Valleys green and river sides
Far across the ocean wide
This ground is holy ground
The people we are singing with
These souls are sacred souls
Saints are walking on the earth
These souls are sacred souls
Loving spirits reach their hands
Touching hearts in every land
Heart to heart and hand to hand
These souls are sacred souls
The music we are singing here
These songs are sacred songs
Love is rising in the air
These songs are sacred songs
Heart to voice and voice to air
Joy is ringing everywhere
Bringing love and ending fear
These songs are sacred songs
The music ringing all around
These songs are sacred songs
Singers gathered on the round
These souls are sacred souls
Mark the tune with joyous beat
Earth a drum below our feet
Echoing the music sweet
This ground is holy ground
Ghosts of Bannerman's Island 10/2/2005
In the year 1900 a wealthy young man
Had built up a fortune both ample and grand
He was a shrewd merchant in New York did dwell
To kings, kaisers and sultans munitions did sell
And he bought himself Bannerman's Island
Says he a great fortress I'll build on this isle
A stronghold, a castle, a grand domicile
For my bride and my pride and my arms and my store
Shall be safe and secure on this island's proud shore
In my arsenal, Bannerman's Island
So with seven score workmen all at his command
With bricks stone and mortar the towers did stand
In the midst of the Hudson this fortress did lie
With arms in its keep and its flags to the sky
The proud arsenal Bannerman's island
But just as the castle was nearly complete
A spark from the builders gunpowder did meet
And the merchant's proud dream of his stronghold of power
With explosion and fire was destroyed in an hour
The men died fleeing Bannerman's Island
A thunder of fury, the devil's own ire
As the arms and the gunpowder raged into fire
As smoke filled the night and the walls tumbled down
In the glare of the flames and the terrible sound
Twas the ruin of Bannerman's Island
A century later the island remains
On the crumbling walls the word "ARSENAL" stays
So people take warning hark well to the words
If you live by the sword you will die by the sword
Say the ghosts of Bannerman's Island
Volcano 1983
adaptation of the song by Jimmy Buffet
Ground she's moving under me
Tidal wave out on the sea
Sulfur smoke up in the sky
Pretty soon we learn to fly
Refrain:
Oh, I don't know, I don't know
I don't know where I'm a gonna go
When the volcano blows
Oh my sugar say to me
Mon, you better watch your feet
Lava comes down soft and hot
You better love-a me now or love-a me not
Refrain x 2
No time to think what I'm worth
Cause I just left the planet earth
Where I go, I hope there's sun
Not to worry, mon, soon come
Refrain x2
Tag:
But I don't want to land in Fukushima
Don't want to land in Los Alamo
Not in Chernobyl, not in Three Mile Island
Don't want to see my skin aglow
Don't want to land in Seabrook, New Hampshire
Don't want to land in Kerr McGee
Don't want to land on the Bikini Atoll
Not in Oak Ridge Tennessee
Refrain x2
But I don't want to land on Indian Point
Don't want to land on Rocky Flat
Don't want to land in no Love Canal zone
What you gonna do about that?
Refrain x2 with callouts [ "How about you? What are you gonna do about it? Where you gonna go? etc.]