The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #24672   Message #2454244
Posted By: Joe Offer
30-Sep-08 - 06:27 PM
Thread Name: YOUR Favorite Tom Paxton Songs?
Subject: DT Correction: I Am Changing My Name to Chrysler
I was thinking of deleting I'm Changing My Name to Chrysler from my MP3 collection, but maybe that's premature. Change the names a bit, and it fits today to a "T." "Chrysler" scans a lot better than "Wachovia" or "WaMu," but maybe that's a matter Congress can resolve...
Well, we could have, "I Am Changing My Name to Wall Street" - but then what do we do with Iacocca???
I can't say "Chrysler" is my favorite Paxton song, but it's a good one and deserves to be posted somewhere.
-Joe-

And since the DT needs correction, here are the corrected lyrics:

I AM CHANGING MY NAME TO CHRYSLER
(Tom Paxton)

Oh the price of gold* is rising out of sight,
And the dollar is in sorry shape tonight.
What the dollar used to get us, now won't get a head of lettuce,
No, the economic forecast isn't bright.
But amidst the clouds I spot a shining ray,
I begin to glimpse a new and better way:
I've devised a plan of action, worked it down to the last fraction,
Now I'm going into action here today.

CHORUS:
I am changing my name to Chrysler,
I am going down to Washington DC.
I will tell some power broker, what you did for Iacocca
Would be perfectly acceptable to me.
I am changing my name to Chrysler,
I am leaving for that great receiving line;
And when they hand a million grand out
I'll be standing with my hand out,
Yes, sir, I'll get mine.

When my creditors come screaming for their dough,
I'll be proud to tell them all where they can go;
They won't have to scream and holler,
They'll be paid to the last dollar
Where the endless streams of money seem to flow.
I'll be glad to tell them all what they must do,
It's a matter of a simple form or two.
It's not just remuneration, It's a liberal education,
Aren't you kind of glad that I'm in debt to you?
CHORUS

Since the first amphibian crawled out of the slime,
We've been struggling in an unrelenting climb.
We were hardly up and walking, before money started talking,
And it's said that failure is an awful crime.
It's been that way a millennium or two,
Now it seems there is a different point of view;
If you’re a corporate Titanic, and your failure is gigantic,
Down in Congress there's a safety net for you.
CHORUS

*Arlo Guthrie has "gas"

from the 1980 Tom Paxton CD, The Paxton Report

The version in the DT has some serious spelling mistakes, even in the title. The DT lyrics are closer to the version Arlo Guthrie did on one of his concert recordings with Pete Seeger. I think the original Paxton lyrics are a little crisper. I'm sure many in Congress won't appreciate a song like this just now - but Dennis Kucinich will.