Dan Bern - Thanksgiving Day Parade Lyrics
Everybody was ecstatic'Bout the light show on the farmAnd everyone got crazyAnd nobody got harmedAnd the five televisionsHuge upon the stageHad come to pay their union duesAnd make a living wageAnd the bathroom was the clubhouseWhere the colors all got madeAnd plans were cast in feathersFor the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd the DJ spins his recordsFrom here out to the sunAnd he flings them through a big holeIn the ozone one by oneAnd somewhere beyond MercuryThe wax begins to meltAnd we touched a perfect strangerAnd we loved the way it feltAnd we all hung togetherIn our crew cuts and our braidsFloating down BroadwayAbove the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd you and I were discussing NatalieAs you poised to thrust above herAnd I told you how I admire herAnd will always need to love herAnd I told you how I lostMy best friend Mr. NeillAnd we slowly started dancingAnd began slowly to healAnd then we all held handsAnd no one was afraidOn our way to sell our sculpturesAt the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd Michelangelo finally came downAfter 4 years on the ceilingHe said he'd lost his fundingAnd the paint had started peelingAnd he told us that his patronHis Holiness, the PopeWas demanding productivityWith which our friend just couldn't copeAnd he rode off on his skateboardWith his brushes and his bladeMuttering something 'bout some foodAnd the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd we were born in one millenniumAnd will die in the nextAre slightly underappreciatedAnd slightly oversexedAnd as the seconds and the minutesStart to vanish one by oneI'm watching more cartoonsAs I get my toenails doneAnd we went downtown to deliverTurkeys to people with AIDSAnd then we headed uptownTo the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd the music keeps on grindingAnd the electrophonic crunchAnd my father's hair is thinningAnd my mom ate some for lunchAnd you, you were my babysitterAnd you let me break my toothAnd we sit here tied togetherIn a bar in the back boothAnd the band is in an uproarOnly the drum machine's been paidAnd we'll have to bring our own tunesTo the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAustralians are the coolestPeople in the worldLet's all go down underWith strings of colored pearlsAnd lay them at the feetOf the heirs of English crimeAnd listen to old Men At WorkAnd have a real good timeAnd we dug until we hit the rocksThen we threw away the spadeAnd built a platform to get a better viewOf the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd I love whoever's next to meI love them so, so muchThey let me lean against themLike a beautiful crutchAnd everyone should come upOn the stage and grab the micAnd tell us one by oneWho they are and what they likeAnd the babies are the only onesTo have lately gotten laidAnd I'm feeling young and eagerFor the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd you explained to me that without your fansYou'd be back out on the streetWith nothing but chitlins on your plateAnd splinters in your feetAnd if you die, you're gone you saidAnd your friends are left behindAnd you'll be a statisticAnd we'll be deaf and blindAnd darkness is a virtueAnd molasses is not afraidTo slow down the countdownTo the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd somewhere in the distanceAn orchestra shows its faceWith Natalie on the oboeTy on double bassJohn plays the violaSlik, the tenor saxJames he blows harmonicaIn vanilla skintight slacksHugo oozes alto saxIvory, the tromboneMasuda squawks the trumpetAndre, xylophoneRon, he shreds the violinIn a green Italian suitMike talks on the telephoneOn a tape with an endless loopGeoff he blows the clarinetWith an old-time rockin' feelCharlie dings the triangleDave, the glockenspielChris puffs on the tubaH, a big bass drumAlfonso throbs the celloLike he would a woman, with his thumbAnd high up on the podiumIn tails with his baton poisedBanksy leads the orchestraIn a glorious, awful noiseAnd on a float of dripping oil paintThe orchestra, it playedKissing the whole universeIn the Thanksgiving Day ParadeAnd life is like a fairy taleEvery step feels like a dreamThat keeps on getting nearerAnd more and more extremeAnd we just got switched with VenusAnd we're closer to the sunAnd I got no problem with itNor should anyoneAnd the cops just blew on in hereAnd we're in some kind of raidI just hope they will release usFor the Thanksgiving Day Parade