What Made America Famous

Parabeaglex2

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-29-05 AT 01:51AM (CST)[/font][br][br][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-29-05 AT 01:37 AM (CST)[/font]

Edited for spelling:

Thanks to Harry Chapin - a voice for all of us, regardless of our political beliefs. He donated most of his concert proceeds to the World Hunger Organization. Politics aside, he gave, and gave and gave - and he gave MONEY out of his own pocket. Can that be said of any of our politicians? Or you? Or me? Unfortunately, he died in 1981 driving his Volkswagen Rabbit down the road - and crashed, while apparently having a heart attack at the time. Although he was a rich man (by Republican standards), he insisted on being a Common Man. Thanks, Harry!

What Made America Famous

It was the town that made America famous
The churches full and the kids all goin' to hell
Six traffic lights
And seven cops
And all the streets kept clean
The supermarket and the drugstore
And the bars all doin' well.

Now, they were the folks
That made America famous,
Our local fire department stocked with short-haired volunteers,

And on Saturday night, while America boozes,
The fire department showed dirty movies,

The lawyer and the grocer seein' their dreams,
Come to life on the movie screen,
While the plumber hopes that he won't be seen
As he tries to hide his fears,
And he wipes away his tears.

But something's burning somewhere,
Does anybody care?

We were the kids that made America famous
The kind of kids that long-since drove our parents to despair;

We were lazy, long-hairs, droppin' out
Lost, confused and coppin' out.

Convinced our futures were in doubt, and tryin' not to care.

We lived in the house that made America famous
It was a run-down slum, the shame of all the decent folks in town;

We hippies and some welfare cases, crowded families with coal-black faces, cramped inside these cracked, old walls, the best that we all could afford, but still too fine for the rich landlord to ever tear it down;

And we could hear the sound of somethin' burning somewhere, is anybody there?

We all lived the life that made America famous,

Our cops would make a point to shadow us around our town;

And we "Love Children" put a swastika on the bright, red firehouse door.

America, the beautiful, it makes a body proud!

And then came the night that made America famous-

Was it carelessness, or someone's sick idea of a joke?

In the tinder-box trap that we hippies lived in, someone struck a spark!

At first I thought that I was dreamin'
Then I saw the first flames gleamin'
And heard the sounds of children screamin' comin' through the smoke

And somethin's burnin' somewhere - does anybody care?

It was the fire that made America famous!

The sirens wailed and the firemen stumbled sleepin' from their homes,

And when the plumber yelled, "C'mon let's go the slum's burnin'" they said "Take it slow,"

"Let 'em sweat a little, they'll never know, and besides, we just cleaned the chrome,"

Said the plumber, "Then, I'm goin' alone."

Well, he rode on up in the fire truck,
Raised the ladder to the ledge,
Where me and my girl and a couple of kids were clinging like bats to the edge;

Brought us to salvation,
Collapsed on the street,
And I never thought that a fat man's face would ever look so sweet;

I shook his hand in a scene that made America famous;

And he smiled from a heart that made America great.

We spent the rest of that night in the home of this man we'd never known before;

It's funny, when you get that close, it's kind of hard to hate.

I went to sleep with the hope that made America famous;

I had the kind of a dream that maybe they're still trying to teach in school;

Of the America, that made America famous;

And of the people who just might undertand,
That how, together, yes we can,
Create a country better than,
The one we have made of this land,
We have the choice to make each man,
Who dares to dream reachin' out his hand,
A prophet, or just a crazy damn dreamer of a fool;

Yes, a crazy fool.

And something's burning somewhere...

Does anybody care?
Is anybody there?
Is anybody there?

zen

I had an opportunity to see Harry Chapin perform at a theater in Columbus, Ohio shortly before his death. After his concert, he went out into the lobby and chatted with whoever decided to walk up to him. He was warm, funny, open and welcoming. I cried when he passed a few months later. Thank you for bringing back thoughts of this great singing storyteller.

ray a

Beagle, I'm more concerned that you are posting a lot after midnight - much like Don does.

Parabeagle

Not to worry - it's a novelty. I finally figured out how to make the thing work from my home computer and there was nothing good on TV. x;-)

Besides, midnight on M Lee Smith time is only 10 pm my time.

LivindonSouth

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-29-05 AT 09:52AM (CST)[/font][br][br]The Forum posts CST time and you are posting a lot around 1:00 a.m.

So I won't have to google it, tomorrow morning at 1:00 can you please type the lyrics to John Lennon's 'Imagine' or anything by The Supremes?

HRLASS

I, too, had an opportunity to see Chapin perform just months before he died - at the outdoor theatre at Ravinia, a performance venue north of Chicago, IL. It was a huge venue, but he made it seem intimate all by himself on that stage. I felt like we lost something very special when he died.