The Ballad of the Kingsmen (Todd Snider)

SONG: The Ballad of the Kingsmen by Todd Snider

BOOK: Louie Louie: The History and Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'n Roll Song; Including the Full Details of Its Torture and Persecution at the Hands of The Kingsmen, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI & a Cast of Millions; & Introducing for the First Time Anywhere, the Actual Dirty Lyrics by Dave Marsh

POEM: Oldies But Goodies by Grace Bauer

Because she's had more than her share
of sad stories and Molson's Ale,
she finds herself at midnight
circling the City of Brotherly Love
singing her heart out with the girl groups
playing on the radio.

The Chiffons do One Fine Day
like it's still 1963
and all the boys she dreamed
she'd fall in love with weren't dead
or gay or still strung out from Nam,
drinking off a rough divorce or looking
for a wife they think will look good
on their resumes.

To the fast-talking DJ
this is just a good night's work,
but he's doing a job on her.
Her head spins like a worn-out 45,
back to when she'd bump and grind
all night to The Temptations or The Miracles,
before she realized lost love
was worse than any lyric, when she still
wondered what the Kingsmen
really sang in Louie, Louie.

QUOTE: "Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope." ~ Edith Wharton