Last night, at Drinking Liberally, I told my friends I had a new idea. As soon as I said it, someone told me someone else has already thought of it. “Of course,” I responded, “I’m always coming up with original ideas, only to discover later someone else came up with them first.” In fact, in college I once came up with a great philosophical idea that explained the theory of reality; only to discover the philosopher Bishop Berkeley came up with almost the same identical idea hundreds of years earlier.
Two nights ago, I ran into an old friend and fellow anti-Trump protestor. He was performing on Main Street, singing folk songs with his guitar and harmonica, looking like a member of the Grateful Dead. I didn’t know he was a musician, and was frankly impressed. I told him I missed him at our weekly anti-Trump rallies, as his antipathy against Trump is unsurpassed. I also told him I would write some lyrics to create a parody satirizing Trump. I told him I might have a talent for writing, but no musical talent or singing ability. So that night I sat down and wrote a parody of Hey Mr. Tambourine Man by Bobby Zimmerman, better known as Bob Dylan. Re-reading these lyrics, I finally understood why Bob Dylan won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry. Even copying his unique style of rhyme and rhythm is difficult.
It took three days before I dared post it on Facebook. Right away Greg, the singer on Main Street, wrote back commenting, “This is awesome.” This gave me the incentive to post my lyrics here on Daily Kos. To find a proper image I googled the name of my parody, “Tangerine Man,” just to see if any images came up. To my surprise, at least three other artists have already written, performed, and posted YouTube parodies of Tambourine Man called Tangerine Man. I wish I could claim mine was best, but I am content to simply say I am glad my lyrics are as good as theirs, and I am happy to be even in the same league. At least I can honestly claim this is the latest version of Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man. Now if I can just get my friend Greg to sing and record it, I’ll post yet another YouTube video and share it with Kos readers.
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
You’re not sleepy and there is no one to be with you
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
In spite of all the lies you’re spewing, I’m believing them true
Though I know your evil rantings are all filled up with hate
From a man who is irate
Let me blindly state, I believe all the lies you’re telling
Your theories all amaze me, though they really don’t make sense
Maybe I’m too dense
To comprehend the ingenious drivel you deliver
Hey Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
You’re not sleepy and there is no one to be with you
Hey Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
As a badly brainwashed bigot, I’ll come following you
You say you are a genius, but sometimes I can’t tell
You don’t know how to spell, which may be just as well
But I still wonder at the meaning of covfefe
So I can’t discern the meaning of pithy little quotes
I just know you rock the boat
But will we stay afloat? As obviously our ship of state is sinking
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
You’re not sleepy and there is no one to be with you
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
In spite of all the lies you’re spewing, I’m still believing you
You take me down the rabbit hole until I’ve lost my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past any sanity or reason
Your angry frightened words, which are sounding more absurd
Are scaring me that maybe you know nothing
As I perceive the twisted mind of a crazy tyrant gone berserk,
Who won’t do any work, and acts just like a jerk
Just maybe things are worse instead of better.
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
You’re not sleepy and there is no one to be with you
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
In spite of all the lies you’re spewing, I’m believing them true
I know that you are madly blaming everybody but yourself
Committing crimes no one else could ever get away with
You Just keep tweeting “no collusion” until it seeps into my brain, repeating the refrain
Until even I cannot explain what is happening
And if I harbor vague suspicions your words are as fake as your toupee
Your endless ravings stay, emblazoned on my brain.
Who can divine the oranges of this odd orangutang, who doesn’t give a dang
And doesn’t know a thang about the government
I suffer confusion about collusion and your denial of obstruction
I fear democracy’s destruction as you eradicate our Constitution’s construction
And the only deduction I can make is you want to be King
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
You’re not sleepy and there is no one to be with you
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, send a tweet to me
In this obverse universe I’m no longer sure what is true
I loved you on the TV as a big Apprentice star
But now I fear you’ve gone too far. You just appointed Justice Barr.
I loved you for your candor and for telling it like it is
But now you slander anyone who disagrees with you
So let me forget about the days when I did sing your praise
It’s time to part our ways
We need someone better for tomorrow
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, don’t send a tweet to me
I’m now so scared I am no longer sleeping
Hey! Mr. Tangerine Man, you are heading for defeat
In this obverse universe I’m no longer following you.
