A State Of The Union Address from Randy Newman.

I’d like to say a few words/ In defense of our country/
Whose people aren’t bad nor are they mean/
Now the leaders we have/ While they’re the worst that we’ve had/
Are hardly the worst this poor world has seen
Let’s turn history’s pages, shall we?
Take the Caesars for example/
Why within the first few of them/ They had split Gaul into three parts/
Fed the Christians to the lions/ And burned down the City/
And one of ’em/ Appointed his own horse Consul of the Empire/
That’s like vice president or something/
That’s not a very good example, is it?/
But wait, here’s one, the Spanish Inquisition/ They put people in a terrible position/
I don’t even like to think about it/
Well, sometimes I like to think about it/
Just a few words in defense of our country/
Whose time at the top/ Could be coming to an end/
Now we don’t want their love/ And respect at this point is pretty much out of the question/ But in times like these/ We sure could use a friend/
Hitler. Stalin./
Men who need no introduction/
King Leopold of Belgium. That’s right./ Everyone thinks he’s so great/
Well he owned The Congo/ He tore it up too/
He took the diamonds, he took the gold/ He took the silver/
Know what he left them with?/
Malaria/
A president once said/, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”/
Now it seems like we’re supposed to be afraid/
It’s patriotic in fact and color coded/
And what are we supposed to be afraid of?/
Why, of being afraid/ That’s what terror means, doesn’t it?/
That’s what it used to mean/
The end of an empire is messy at best/
And this empire is ending/
Like all the rest/ Like the Spanish Armada adrift on the sea/
We’re adrift in the land of the brave/ And the home of the free/
Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye.

from the cats at Word Magazine
who must be feeling very smug about getting Neil Finn to pretty much admit he was reforming Crowded House back in November. That was news that got me and Clare jumping around and cackling, anyhoo.