On April Fool's Day, One of My Favorite Fools, Or: This Bird Song Isn't For the Kiddies

In the mid and late 70s I spent most Saturday nights listening to the Doctor Demento show on the radio.  The Doctor (a.k.a. Barry Hansen) would play all kinds of comedy and novelty records. On his show I was introduced to Alan Sherman,Stan Freeberg, Spike Jones and a host of other weird and wonderful performers.

BTW, "Weird Al" Yankovic got his start on this show, and you can probably blame Doctor D for a lot of novelty records getting on your radio. Certainly it's the first place I know of that widely played  "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"...)

But my favorite Doctor Demento introduction was to mathematics professor and satirist Tom Lehrer. Though some of his ditties have become dated, there is still deep truth in songs like the "New Math" that's "so simple, so very simple, that only a child can do it". And  though the places and the players have changed, his Cold War Era songs often have all too clear parallels in todays headlines.

But enough of that. It's spring, so celebrate with "Poisoning Pigeons In the Park". It's from Tom's album "An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer" and you can hear a sample of this if you look for it on Amazon.com

Spring is here, a-suh-puh-ring is here.
Life is skittles and life is beer.
I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring.
I do, don't you? 'Course you do.
But there's one thing that makes spring complete for me,
And makes ev'ry Sunday a treat for me.

All the world seems in tune
On a spring afternoon,
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park.
Ev'ry Sunday you'll see
My sweetheart and me,
As we poison the pigeons in the park.

When they see us coming, the birdies all try an' hide,
But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide.
The sun's shining bright,
Ev'rything seems all right,
When we're poisoning pigeons in the park.

Lalaalaalalaladoodiedieedoodoodoo

We've gained notoriety,
And caused much anxiety
In the Audubon Society
With our games.
They call it impiety,
And lack of propriety,
And quite a variety
Of unpleasant names.
But it's not against any religion
To want to dispose of a pigeon.

So if Sunday you're free,
Why don't you come with me,
And we'll poison the pigeons in the park.
And maybe we'll do
In a squirrel or two,
While we're poisoning pigeons in the park.

We'll murder them all amid laughter and merriment.
Except for the few we take home to experiment.
My pulse will be quickenin'
With each drop of strychnine
We feed to a pigeon.
It just takes a smidgin!
To poison a pigeon in the park.

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit