Tom Lehrer, whose ninety-first birthday approaches this calendar year,
when asked whose song-writing he favors,
cited "Fusion" by John Forster.

If it's good enough for Tom Lehrer,
I reckon it's good enough for a bunch more of us.


FUSION
(John Forster)

Fusion
The intermingling of two musics
I say it's the music of the future
And, hey, I oughta know

Have you heard my latest album?
It's a masterpiece of fusion
Just a masterpiece of fusion,
if I do say so myself
A true collaboration
Of the heaviest musicians on the planet

That's Sakimoto playing the bamboo flute;
He's a monster
And Picho Zuptabuma's on mbira,
check it out
And over on the cabasa --
Who is that on the cabasa?
Oh, yeah:
That's the guy who drove me in from the airport
I forget his name ...

... but he's a monster too
We're all just monsters of fusion
We're intermingling our musics
In a welter of ethnic confusion

This pretty tune was written by Hans Leo Hassler in 1599
I wrote some words
And changed about three notes
Now ASCAP says it's mine
I love constructing albums
From objects that I find

From all kinds of folk riffs that're just sort of out there
Nobody owns them, they're in public domain
And the foreign musicians who play those folk riffs
Well, they're just grist for my fevered brain

Momma don't take my copyright
Gimme that folk riff copyright
Momma don't take my copyright
From me ...

There've been slurs and innuendos
There've been nasty little comments
I don't bother to respond to them
They roll right off my back

I'm well aware that there's
an element you could call exploitation
In the way that I
Appropriate the cultures of these peoples
for my own commercial purposes

But everyone who works for me
Gets credit
And royalties
And Grammys
And a chance
To ride to stardom on my coattails
But hey --
Let's just remember who the genius is here

Who is the master of
Fusion
Fusion
It's a matter of finders keepers
'Cause there ain't no copyrights in
Fusion
Fusion

We're all just rippin' off each other
In a jungle of ethical confusion
Fusion

And it's a hell of a lot of fun
I'm having a hell of a lot of fun in the ball park
I'm thinking this song is in the ball park ...
(fade)

copyright 1990 Limousine Music Col (ASCAP)

from the album "Entering Marion"

And if you want to hear Forster impersonating
Paul Simon's
actual gourmet recipes,
I mean musical compositions,
you can listen to "Fusion" by John Forster here.