All - American Souls

OUIJA BOARD ~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS
AND JUST A LITTLE EERIE!

The Ouija Board was never a big thing with me and my friends, though we were all mystified by it and surely pulled one out every now and then at a slumber party or on a Halloween night. With the Samhain Triumvirate upon us -- Halloween, All Saints & All Souls -- what better time to contemplate a message from Beyond. What will it bring? Healing? Threat? Warning? That's what songwriter Andrew Robert Palmer deliberates in the following lyrics, bringing to mind an entire cycle of high holy days and patriotic holidays:

American Souls

Well, I'm waiting for the light to come on
and I'm praying it ain't really there
Oh, I'm closing my eyes and hoping the monsters are gone
I'm running up the basement stairs

We were playing with the ouija board
it was late, a voice said, "hey, can I play?"
When we asked the evil spirits who they were coming for,
it just spelled out "U...S...A."

Well, sweet baby Jesus, when are you coming home?
When will this world be saved?
Will there be room in heaven for our American Souls
When flowers grow on our graves?

Hush now child don't you worry no more
even evil demons have their end
I can't say it ain't really there, so I won't anymore
but It's safe to say the sun will come out again

Have faith and pray the sun will come out again
Have faith and pray for a brand new day
the sun will come out again

Music & lyrics by Andrew Robert Palmer
released May 1, 2019
posted with author's permission
all rights reserved

Note from Andrew: "Wanted to end this whole thing off on a hopeful note, even though life can seem as spooky-scary as being in your basement in the dark when no one's home. I don't mean to sound trite or glib, but I reckon sometimes, the best you can do is keep going and hope it all gets better. But you know ...also do stuff to help it get better...don't just hang around and do nothing. cool? cool."

To The Lake!
Little House
Rockford Rock
Northside Blues Confusion
American Souls
Speaking of "trite or glib" -- but not really -- I somehow went from humming Andrew Palmer's "American Souls" to recalling another all - American tribute from the classic musical Stop the World -- I Want to Get Off, written in 1961 by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The lyrics vary occasionally from production to production and from songbook to songbook, so if I have not chosen your favorites, please feel free to amend!

What remains constant in each rendition is the spectacle of a citizen shallowly embracing the more ridiculous elements of patriotism and popular culture without bothering to remember the current President or understand the Constitution -- how timely! Thus even the cutesy comic relief of a show tune harbors the same sinister concern lurking in Palmer's "American Souls." Entertaining yet worrisome:

All - American

I'm an all - American sweetheart
From an all - American town
I'm from all - American Main Street USA
I eat all - American popcorn
I chew all - American gum
Which is why I talk this all - American way

I watch all - American movies
half the all - American night
On my all - American television screen
And like all American females
I've an all - American dream
To become an all - American movie queen

[Reid, Murdoch & Co. Building]
I get all - American goosebumps
When I hear the Stars & Stripes
I'm an an all American niece of Uncle Sam
And I think that Mr. Eisenhower is altogether swell
-- Oh really? When? Oops --
I think Mr. Kennedy is absolutely swell
What a lucky all - American girl I am!

I consider myself very fortunate to be a citizen
of the United States of America
and furthermore, I support the Fifth Amendment,
whatever it is . . .

All - American Tevas!
What a lucky all - American girl I am!

SEE YOU IN TWO WEEKS ON MY
Next Fortnightly Post
Thursday, November 14th

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