This bluegrass a capella betrayal waltz came to me like a lightning bolt as I was driving south through cold, dry flatness out of Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho, listening to car parts commercials on a Boise radio station. I was going to add a murder verse, but I like having it just implied. When singing this, I “feather” the end of each line like the old-timey singers do. For Nancy.
Well, I was handed to you on a silver platter
And now three kids and ten years later I don’t matter
To you, Mr. Rich and Famous.
After mending your shirts and putting wheat germ in the batter
Now I stand here before you, my life all in tatters
‘Cause of you, Mr. Rich and Famous.
So you can take your new wife and all the skis on up to Aspen
And go down those black diamond runs with abandon
With her, Mrs. Rich and Famous.
And then we’ll bury your bodies ‘neath the pines in the backyard
And we’ll say a short prayer but there ain’t nobody cryin’ real hard
For you, Mr. Rich and Famous
Not for you, Mr. Rich and Famous
Nor for me, never rich, never famous.
Post a Comment