All right, so I backslid and wrote a fourth political song. I had no intention, but I started writing a song about taxes and it morphed into this one. I might still write the song about taxes; I've written lines like “Since I am rich and so are you, let us tax the poor” and “Let all the roads turn to muddy paths, and let the schools decay.”
The music is Heart's Ease, though I recently recently that anything written to Heart's Ease also scans to the theme song from Gilligan's Island (an observation for which my wife and several other people now curse me for...).
Once long ago a mighty land Found itself trodden down, Not by a foreign conqueror But by its native crown. A boastful, boorish, beastly king In thrall to Bab'lon's whore, Who might have had but no effect, Until he made a war. The land was threatened, that is true And brave souls fought abroad, But back at home the king suppressed Those who would show his fraud. Spoken: He said... "A frightful, fearsome foe does lurk Among our loyal band, So if you'll give some freedoms up I'll save you from his hand. "And while I can, I'll fix some things That are not broken yet, But that's a problem I have solved Since legistators met. "If you're not for, then you're against, The mighty must be free. So help my friends and sacrifice, Your selves for them and me." Oft serpents hide beneath a shrub, A rose has many a thorn, In fear and pleasant promises Was tyranny reborn. And so this happy land fell into Gloom and dark despair, Take warning all if you should see Your own land headed there. No man is more a slave than he Whose rights for safety trades, Rise up and make your voices heard Until injustice fades!
Notes