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Two Songs from “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical”

January 22, 2011 By Melissa 3 Comments

     What sense does it make, in this economy, to keep bringing home more children? We could buy a new car every year and get off cheaper. Shiny ones, too, with foreign names and Italian engines. We could park each of the fancy cars at its own mansion and it would still be a cheaper approach to happiness in the long run than raising nine children with their accompanying family trips, I-pods, soccer cleats, summer camps, tuitions, and Saturday night pizza-deliveries.

     Lyrics from “Hair” frequently cross my mind. The first are from “I Got Life.”

I got my hair
I got my head
I got my brains
I got my ears
I got my eyes
I got my nose
I got my mouth
I got my te-ee-eth


Ace Young as Berger on Broadway

I got my tongue
I got my chin
I got my neck
I got my tits
I got my heart
I got my soul
I got my back
I got my a-a-ass…

     I still got all those things because they’re FREE!

     But this part is also true:

I got life, mother
I got laughs, sister
I got freedom, brother
I got good times, man

     Because life is the thing we have so much of now; life is what we’re rich in.

     On the flip side are the lyrics from “Ain’t Got No,” including:

Ain’t got no money
Ain’t got no class
Ain’t got no scarf
Ain’t got no gloves…

     I ain’t got none of them things because my children took them.

     A few “Ain’t Got No” lines could be sung by some of those children, including: “Ain’t got no soap,” “Ain’t got no coins,” “Ain’t go no schoolin’,” and (one of the great lyrics of the 20th century) “Ain’t got no underwear.”

     The economy’s tanking, the Middle East is exploding; Madison, Wisconsin, resembles Cairo; and my children’s tuitions are due.

     Still:

I got life (life)
Life (life)
Life (life)
Life (life)
Life (life)
Life (life)
LIFE!

So, tell me: what songs do you sing to yourself during the day and do any of them come from a Tribal-Love-Rock Musical?

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Comments

  1. Seth says

    February 27, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    I sing this to myself during the day:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN_CIn7Z8rk

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      February 27, 2011 at 6:32 pm

      Seth! You’ve given my first comment on the whole website!!
      If my eight other children follow your lead, I will have a VERY popular website!

      Reply
    • Melissa says

      February 27, 2011 at 6:37 pm

      Oh my God I just clicked on your link, Seth. So silly!! And Stevie Wonder is so skinny.

      Reply

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