Hi Fred!
I'll bet that's a HOOT!
But, "...EARTH-ly tem-PES-tion?"
Was that taken after that fine young black ladies' singing group, "The
Tempestions?"
Just wondered...
keith whaley
Fred wrote:
Not familiar with the song, tho'. I guess I didn't listen much to much of
that [what sounds like] "stump-jumpin'" music.
It's kind of a country-and-western tongue-in-cheek spoof song (composed by
Paul Craft and sung with a definite twang by Bobby Bare).
I sang it (with my own guitar accompaniment) at a church service a couple
of Super Bowl Sundays ago. It was a duet of sorts - I sang the verses, and
the pastor and I sang the refrains together.
The song goes like this (with boldfaced syllables for the accented beats) -
===========================================================================
REFRAIN:
DROP-kick me JE-sus through the GOAL-posts of LIFE
END over END neither LEFT nor to RIGHT
STRAIGHT through the HEART of them RIGHT-eous up-RIGHTS
DROP-kick me JE-sus through the GOAL-posts of LIFE
MAKE me oh MAKE me Lord MORE than I AM
MAKE me a PIECE in Your MAS-ter game PLAN
FREE from the EARTH-ly tem-PES-tion be-LOW
I'VE got the WILL Lord if YOU'VE got the TOE
(REFRAIN)
BRING on the BRO-thers who've GONE on be-FORE
and ALL of the SIS-ters who've KNOCKED on Your DOOR
and ALL the de-PAR-ted dear LOVED ones of MINE
and STICK 'em up FRONT in the OFF-ensive LINE
(REFRAIN)
===========================================================================
The high point of the song surely is in the last verse above, where I sing
"and all the departed dear loved ones of mine" while slowing down the
rhythm, and then pause ("leavin' 'em hangin'") for 3 or 4 seconds, before
finally delivering the "punch line" of "and stick 'em up front in the
offensive line" - there was not a dry eye left in the place - <vbg>.
(There's also an "optional" verse sometimes used at the end, probably added
by someone other than the composer, but I think it's a weak addition, and I
think it weakens the song.)
DISCLAIMER: I am not a country-and-western music aficionado at all, but I
do tend to have a fondness for spoof songs (and, as a liberal Christian,
especially if so-called "traditionalists" are the ones being kidded - <g>).
Fred
