More great Randy Newman lyrics

[proud2BlibKansan]

SAIL AWAY

In America you'll get food to eat
Won't have to run through the jungle
And scuff up your feet
You'll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day
It's great to be an American

Ain't no lions or tigers
Ain't no mamba snake
Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake
Ev'rybody is as happy as a man can be
Climb aboard, little wog
Sail away with me

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay

In America every man is free
To take care of his home and his family
You'll be as happy as a monkey in a monkey tree
You're all gonna be an American

Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay
Sail away
Sail away
We will cross the mighty ocean into Charleston Bay



BURN ON

There's a red moon rising
On the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There's a red moon rising
On the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There's an oil barge winding
Down the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

There's an oil barge winding
Down the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake

Cleveland, city of light, city of magic
Cleveland, city of light, you're calling me
Cleveland, even now I can remember
'Cause the Cuyahoga River
Goes smokin' through my dreams

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on
Now the Lord can make you tumble
And the Lord can make you turn
And the Lord can make you overflow
But the Lord can't make you burn

Burn on, big river, burn on
Burn on, big river, burn on

[saltpoint]

1. Yes and Yes and Yes, proud2Blib.

He's a major songwriter in my book, anyway.

His song "Marie" is one of my very favorite compositions. Just a shining star of a song.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. I have been a fan for over 30 years

Too bad his only top 40 hit was one of his worst songs.

[saltpoint]

7. True about the top 40 hit, but you are a long-time fan --

-- and you know the whole road.

Go, team!

[Aristus]

2. No one likes us.

I don't know why
We may not be perfect
But heaven knows, we try
But all around
Even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the Big One,
And see what happens

We give them money
But are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful
And they're hateful
They don't respect us
So let's surprise 'em
Let's drop the Big One
And pulverize them

Asia's crowded, Europe's too old
Africa's far too hot, and Canada's too cold
South America stole our name
Let's drop the Big One,
They'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroos
We'll build an all-American amusement park there
They like surfing, too

Boom goes London
Boom Pare-ree
More room for you and
More room for me
And every city the whole world 'round
Would just be another
American town

Oh, how peaceful it will be!
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
It'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the Big One now
Let's drop the Big One now!

Thirty-year old song. More relevant than ever.

[madison2000]

3. Ok as long as we are talking about Randy Newman

check out the post I made last night

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x2527254

and the reaction to it starting at #7 and tell me how you interpret Randy Newmans lyrics.

[havocmom]

4. You're right, 'Short People' mocks those who are bigoted and refuse to

see humanity. I got to hear an interview about it shortly after it first aired on radio, and raised a rather big stink with folks who didn't get it.

Yeppers, more folks need to learn their Newman

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Short People mocks discrimination

just like Sail Away mocks slavery and Political Science mocks imperialism and Burn On is a criticism of pollution.

It's called SARCASM folks. Sheesh. Get a grip.

Great points on that other thread, Madison. Randy is just too deep for some folks I guess.

[peekaloo]

8. I'm guessing that person has never heard 'Rednecks'.

:o

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Then it's time to get educated!

Rednecks Lyrics
Artist(Band):Randy Newman

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him they're wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that's where I made this song

We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town
Keepin' the niggers down

We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
And colleges men from LSU
Went in dumb - come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
Keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the niggers down

Now your northern nigger's a Negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free

Yes he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage in the South-Side of Chicago, the West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, rednecks
And we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the niggers down

We are keeping the niggers down

[peekaloo]

9. God's Song

Cain slew Abel, Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:

Man means nothing, he means less to me
Than the lowliest cactus flower
Or the humblest Yucca tree
He chases round this desert
'Cause he thinks that's where I'll be
That's why I love mankind

I recoil in horror fro the foulness of thee
From the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That's why I love mankind

The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said, "Lord, a plague is on the world
Lord, no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won't take care of us
Won't you please, please let us be?"
And the Lord said
And the Lord said

I burn down your cities-how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You all must be crazy to put your faith in me
That's why I love mankind
You really need me
That's why I love mankind

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I sang this one to my babies

They are in their 20s now and still remember falling asleep to this song

MEMO TO MY SON

What have you done to the mirror?
What have you done to the floor?
Can't I go nowhere without you?
Can't I leave you alone any more?

I know you don't think much of me
But someday you'll understand
Wait'll you learn how to talk, baby
I'll show you how smart I am

A quitter never wins
A winner never quits
When the going gets tough
The tough get going

Maybe you don't know how to walk, baby
Maybe you can't talk none either
Maybe you never will, baby
But I'll always love you
I'll always love you