John McCutcheon is one of my favorite singers of all time. Not only is he a tremendous musician, swapping musical instruments throughout his performances without losing a beat and proving his accomplishment on all of them, but I happen to love his political commentaries. I’ll warn some of my more conservative friends, you might not find them as funny as I do – but I think they’re hilarious.
Friday night John McCutcheon was in Kansas City for the first time since 2004. He plays the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival every year in Winfield, Kansas – but recent CPAP, ostomy, bleeding, allergy etc. drama has made camping out at the festival a bit tough for me.
Needless to say, doctor’s appointment and dizziness aside, I had to be there Friday night. I went straight from the doctor’s appointment, splurged on a long cab ride, and met a whole contingent of friends and fellow John McCutcheon fans for the concert. When I started having those dizzy spells again Thursday, my first thought was that they had to stop because I couldn’t miss this concert!
And John didn't disappoint. The only downside of the concert was that it didn’t last all night. Grin!
There was one song that was new to me that I thought was particularly funny. I’m going to include the lyrics here, but John has a free MP3 of the song on his Web site at: http://www.folkmusic.com. You’ll also find free MP3s of a few of his other songs there too. Look on the right side of the page in blue. You’ll also find a link to see video of his performances at the Kennedy Center.
At any rate, working on fundraising for a non-profit, I couldn’t help but have a little special love for this song.
Puppies
Words & music by John McCutcheon(September 2007, White Sulpher Springs, WV)
Leona Helmsley had a puppy
Trouble is its name
She left her pup 12 million bucks
Leona was insane
Trouble will be buried
When she barks her final time
In a mausoleum
Bigger than your house or mine.
At the other end of puppy love
We have Michael Vick
His treatment of his puppies
Proves that Mike is just plain sick
He trained his puppies from the start
To kill or to be killed
You gotta stop and wonder
Where such thinking was instilled
We have puppies everywhere
In our cars and laps
If you ever hurt a puppy
We’re gonna give you crap
I have a dog, I love my dog
More than I can tell
But still I wished we treated humans
Nearly half as well
When humans beings fight other humans
We gather, cheer and bet
When we cage our fellow humans
Everyone forgets
We read of murder and starvation
And simply turn the page
But if a single puppy's harmed
Everyone's outraged
So we need puppies in Guantanamo
Puppies in Darfur
So we can get upset enough
To care to find a cure
Puppies need a living wage
Puppies need health care
Puppies need a helping hand
From humans everywhere
Illegal alien puppies
Puppies lost or lame
We rush right in to rescue them
Make sure they each have names
If we treated folks in need
That well both near and far
We might become the persons
That our puppies think we are
Friday night John McCutcheon was in Kansas City for the first time since 2004. He plays the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival every year in Winfield, Kansas – but recent CPAP, ostomy, bleeding, allergy etc. drama has made camping out at the festival a bit tough for me.
Needless to say, doctor’s appointment and dizziness aside, I had to be there Friday night. I went straight from the doctor’s appointment, splurged on a long cab ride, and met a whole contingent of friends and fellow John McCutcheon fans for the concert. When I started having those dizzy spells again Thursday, my first thought was that they had to stop because I couldn’t miss this concert!
And John didn't disappoint. The only downside of the concert was that it didn’t last all night. Grin!
There was one song that was new to me that I thought was particularly funny. I’m going to include the lyrics here, but John has a free MP3 of the song on his Web site at: http://www.folkmusic.com. You’ll also find free MP3s of a few of his other songs there too. Look on the right side of the page in blue. You’ll also find a link to see video of his performances at the Kennedy Center.
At any rate, working on fundraising for a non-profit, I couldn’t help but have a little special love for this song.
Puppies
Words & music by John McCutcheon(September 2007, White Sulpher Springs, WV)
Leona Helmsley had a puppy
Trouble is its name
She left her pup 12 million bucks
Leona was insane
Trouble will be buried
When she barks her final time
In a mausoleum
Bigger than your house or mine.
At the other end of puppy love
We have Michael Vick
His treatment of his puppies
Proves that Mike is just plain sick
He trained his puppies from the start
To kill or to be killed
You gotta stop and wonder
Where such thinking was instilled
We have puppies everywhere
In our cars and laps
If you ever hurt a puppy
We’re gonna give you crap
I have a dog, I love my dog
More than I can tell
But still I wished we treated humans
Nearly half as well
When humans beings fight other humans
We gather, cheer and bet
When we cage our fellow humans
Everyone forgets
We read of murder and starvation
And simply turn the page
But if a single puppy's harmed
Everyone's outraged
So we need puppies in Guantanamo
Puppies in Darfur
So we can get upset enough
To care to find a cure
Puppies need a living wage
Puppies need health care
Puppies need a helping hand
From humans everywhere
Illegal alien puppies
Puppies lost or lame
We rush right in to rescue them
Make sure they each have names
If we treated folks in need
That well both near and far
We might become the persons
That our puppies think we are
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