SONG CHALLENGE WINNER!

The Song Challenge:   Who Left Uncle Harry In The Bushes? July 6, 2000 - Fort Worth, Texas: Maintenance worker John Truex was minding his own business as he walked the grounds of the Woodhill Apartments on Monday, when he spied an odd-looking wooden box under a bush. "He had no idea what it was," said the manager of the complex. "It looked like a little coffin."  Truex took the box to the apartment office to show the manager and other staff members what he found. Curious, the group opened the lid and discovered a sealed brass box inside. They couldn't open the brass box, and couldn't figure out what it was, so they called the police. Office r W.T. Byrnes arrived at the scene and was just as stumped by the 1-foot-long by 4-inch-wide box, which seemed to be missing a display plate. "I wasn't real sure what it was," Byrnes said. "I called funeral homes in the area and they said, 'Yes, we package things like that,' and I said, 'Eeeeyew!'"  "According to a couple of funeral homes," continued Officer Byrnes, "they take ashes, put them in a plastic bag with a label of who it is and then put them in a box that they seal up and then put in a display case." Byrnes turned the little box over to the Medical Examiner's Office; however, the staff members there declined to comment yesterday. The statement from spokeswoman Linda Anderson was, "As it stands right now, we don't have any information on it -- All we have is a box."  But the apartment manager has heard otherwise. "It's an urn of some sort," she said. "The medical examiner's office found out that it is a lady from Granbury, but they haven't contacted any relatives. But I'm sure when a person finds out that their relative was left here, we will be hearing from them . . . (but) you've got to wonder who would leave Uncle Harry under a bush . . . .". 

The Box by Bradypus
(Tune:  'The Boxer' by Paul Simon)

Bradypus' Comments:  I'm not sure if this one works or not ... Originally the last line before the final chorus was 'I've still got his remains', but although I like the pun, it doesn't fit the rest of the song ! 

I am just a poor box, 
And my story's seldom told
For I owe my whole existence
To a family who made a lot of promises
All lies and jest
Still a box hears what it's meant to hear
And remembers all the rest

When I left the shop this family
Intended to do right
By the ashes of their uncle
From the crematorium taken home
With all respect
They laid me low
Took me to their humble houses
Where their uncle used to go
And I saw the places that he used to know

Lie-la-lie
Lie-la-lie la lie-la lie
Lie-la-lie
Lie-la-lie la la la la
Lie la la la la lie

But among the family squabbles
I was left upon the shelf
Just an old box 
Passed from house to house
From time to time
I do declare
There were times when things got rough, but still
They'd see me there
Ooo- la-la la-la la la


Then I'm laying in the cupboard
For the memory has gone
Leaving home
For the New York Family will soon be gone
Leaving me
Leaving home

In the clearing lies an old box
Hidden by the grass
And it carries still the ashes
Of the uncle who had worked so hard
For the family 
I've no anger, I've no shame
They are leaving, they are leaving
Now I'm all that still remains

Lie-la-lie
Lie-la-lie la lie-la lie
Lie-la-lie
Lie-la-lie la la la la
Lie la la la la lie

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