Great one! Maybe add: "I can't get no.......satisfaction!"

Good stuff. Good stuff indeed. I too was raised by toothless bearded hag. (Sorry mom!)

greenheron, definitely! There were many more choices in the running, and I just couldn't fit them all on one page and make it readable (it's barely readable as is). For instance, the line from "Ramblin' Man" about being born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus rollin' down Highway 41 was under serious consideration, but I could only be born in one place, and for pure camp value, I had to stick with Cher. Perhaps there needs to be a Part Deux?

Thanks Beth! Hey, weren't we all? That's why we're the real 53%!

You don't hear "I was a trust fund baby" in any pop music lyrics.

"They say the best things in life are free
But you give them to the birds and bees
I want money, that's what I want"

excellent, jeanette. the working person's lament.

OE, no that's not a popular theme! (I guess Madonna's "Material Girl" is one of the few along those lines.)

aka, I think that sounds more like the 1%!

Candace, there is a veritable treasure trove of great lines in blues and more "political" music, but I wanted to try and stay with the more kitschy and melodramatic.

Also, anyone who identifies all 12 is entitled to bragging rights!

"Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis
Pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans"

Shoot, how embarrassing, morning eyes, I missed that on the sign ... another one.

"But when you're walkin' down the street
And you ain't had enough to eat
The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere"

Scarlett, I see you've waded right into the "Proud Mary" lyrics controversy. I'm in the "pumped a lot of 'tane" camp, but I suppose that it could just as easily be "pumped a lot of pain".

Hadn't thought of "On Broadway". I really should have added, "I was looking for a job and then I found a job. And heaven knows I'm miserable now."

Jeanette: Maybe it's an unconscious association as I always thought Tina sang "pain" but now I'll know, ...

Scarlett, I think Fogerty actually wrote it as "pain". But I never could figure out what it meant to pump pain. But then again, 'tane as slang for gasoline is pretty obscure too.

I would add, "the bills are all, the baby needs shoes, and I'm busted."
Also, "oh man, I've been framed. I never do nothing wrong but everytime I get the blame." r

That's " the bills are all due." I guess I do some things wrong.

I started life in a cold water tenement too--born at home on East 27th Street.

Trudge, I originally had that line, but then I went with the one from "Coal Miner's Daughter", and I didn't want to have to lines about shoes. (This was hard work, people!) :-)

Erica, you and Diana Ross's "Love Child"? That's quite a coincidence!

That's what music is all about, to talk truth to power! My favorite of these is Ray Charles and "Busted."(I think that's the song title!)

Jeanette, the second line was from Cheech & Chong.

This one is better! Too funny! : )

R! Terrific. How much more effective the lyrics are now that I see them in this context. Thanks so much for sharing this.

You sure capture the mood of many, and you do it so cleverly.

I am partial to CCR, so I like that you included them.

They never did like Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bankbook wasn't big enough
...
I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the axe just fell

Dicky, yes "Busted" is it, and I know a lot of people are right now.

Trudge, how I could I not know that?!?!? ;-)

Reflecting on History, glad it tickled your funny bone.

jramelle, I raise my hand in a devil horn salute to you. Rock on!

Ron, thanks for reading. Music tells some powerful stories.

Paul, thanks! I had fun doing this one. (And I might also have included a line or two from "Bad Moon Rising". My dad was a big CCR/John Fogerty fan too!)

Abrawang, nice additions. I'm not familiar with the songs. If you come back, let me know. Thanks!

_______________________________________________

As a final comment, let me say that the comments have been very interesting to me.

As a response to the "open call", this piece was meant to be a joke or a parody. The website that purports to represent "the 53%" who pay taxes, features a number of handwritten or typed signs that recount the struggles and hardships of seemingly average middle Americans. But they don't blame Wall Street for their troubles. They seem to take pride in being chumps, as if working three jobs or being upside down in their mortage is some kind of badge of honor.

So, I started thinking of song lyrics that had a similar feel to what I was seeing on that website, and they just started coming fast and furious. I wanted to stay away from blues songs, as that's a little too obvious, and I wanted to stay away from songs that were written with a political message, as that self-awareness was the opposite of what the 53% have shown.

There were a lot of songs from the 60's that provided what I wanted: a little camp, a little kitsch, overwrought melodrama. I wanted to "one-up" the 53%-ers with their tales of woe, and I figured that being born in the wagon of a traveling show would do that quite nicely. And "Patches"? My god, that's about as over the top as it gets!

But, after I published the piece, I noticed that there were those who took it more literally, and that gave me a different appreciation for the work of the writers whose words I used. It also made me realize that parody or satire is all in the eye of the beholder, and can be really difficult, especially when you're dealing with so many layers, and when the original subject matter is virtually a parody of itself.

So, thanks again for all of the interesting thoughts expressed here.

I came by here yesterday but had to run before I got a chance to comment. The 53% thing begs for mockery, and your selections do a great job of it. Every step forward, or even discussion of steps forward, is an affront to what we used to call rednecks, but nowadays redneckism is enjoying a huge resurgence as our electorate grows ever more ignorant and inclined to believe corporofascist propaganda.

He was born in Oklahoma
His wife's name is Betty Lou Thelma Liz
And he's not responsible for what he's doing
'Cause his mother made him what he is

And it's up against the wall Redneck Mother...

Jeanette: I read just your comment and while I'm not totally on top of all the "%" references coming out of the OWS movement, I also appreciated all the lyrics.

Re: Abrawang's comment (great guy; I met him, so I don't think he would mind even if he comes back). The lyrics are from Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue"/Blood On The Tracks. (:: waving at Abra::).

which lead me to 2 of the greatest lines,

"20 years of schoolin'
and they put you on the dayshift"

(only now the day shifts are all but disappeared too)

nana, I was actually thinking about submitting my list to "the real 53%" website. Do you think they'd accept it? haha

Scarlett, thanks for giving me the source of the lyrics Abrawang posted. I confess to being pretty indifferent to the genius of Bob Dylan.

As for the percentages, it does get very confusing. You've got the 99% at OWS, and the 1% at the top. Then you've got the 53% who are complaining about the other 47% (but even though those 53% include the 1%, they're not complaining about them), and it all gets pretty muddy. But if you haven't been to the "real 53%" website, you can find it here. I don't mock these people, but I think they're both mean-spirited and tragically unaware.

Well Scarlett, who assuredly knows her music, beat me to it. It is indeed Dylan's Tangled Up in Blue. Jeanette, if you think it's worth a revisit, here's Dylan singing the song from the Rolling Thunder Review in the 70s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSZvHqf9qM&ob=av3e

Abrawang, thanks for the video. I did watch it! My verdict: too many words. ;-)

I know I'm a heretic when it comes to Dylan. I'm just not much of a "message music" person. Still, I do acknowledge how important he was, and I do like some of his songs.

Last (maybe) meta comment on this open call. I think the joke is just too complicated. The more you have to explain, the harder it is to be funny.

Jeannette:

You know I looove my music, so you know you have my mind working overtime. These are all absolutely timeless lyrics.
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