Lyr Add: The Busker and the Train (Chris Cotton)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BUSKER AND THE TRAIN (Chris Cotton)
From: Chris Cotton
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 10:11 PM

THE BUSKER AND THE TRAIN

* Verse 1
One day when I needed a subway downtown,
I stood on the platform to wait.
I glanced at my watch, and I paced up and down,
And I cursed at my luck, being late.

I stared down the tunnel, but just as I feared,
All I saw was the dark underground.
But then as I waited, a busker appeared,
And he made an incredible sound!

He strummed up as high as guitar strings could go,
Yet his voice was a bass unbelievably low—
The ear couldn't hear any sounds more severe,
And it struck with a deafening blow.

And then came a point,
It was all out of joint,
And the words were impossibly jumbled.
Guitar strings of steel
Made an ungodly squeal,
And his voice was an inhuman rumble.

And I thought to myself as he played this refrain:
Is that the busker or is that the train?

* Verse 2
So I turned and I looked, but the tunnel was black—
No train, and my senses were wrong—
Though a little while later, on the opposite track,
Three trains in a row came along.

I paced up and down with fast-growing ire
At the train system's inferiority.
I cursed my bad luck, and I cursed the entire
Metropolitan Transit Authority.

I recalled the advice that I usually took:
Don't ride the subway without a good book.
But my thoughts were then steered to that busker so weird,
As if they were yanked by a hook.

With his second verse,
Well, he only got worse,
Though he played with a strange kind of zeal.
Then back came the chorus,
So shrill and sonorous,
That deafening rumble and squeal.

Hands clamped on my ears couldn't dull the refrain—
But is that the busker or is that the train?

* Bridge
His guitar case was open,
I guess he was hopin'
For some sort of financial gain.
But he'd never coerce
Any coin from a purse
When his music created such pain.
Yet he wasn't annoyed
That his case was so void,
And commuters' displeasure was plain.
And that clamor of his
Wasn't lessened, but is
That the busker or is that the train?

* Verse 3
I thought I'd be waiting the rest of my life,
Till I died of old age in the station:
And instead of commuting in bustle and strife,
I'd ride to my last destination.

That bright golden subway, express number nine,
That's outbound for St. Peter's gate.
I could see myself waiting for the heavenly line—
But with my luck, it's still running late.

There's plenty of trains in the other direction—
And soon, I wonder: did I miss my connection?
For there underground comes this hideous sound,
For the busker is working that section!

He stands all the while,
With a sinister smile,
And he's looking at me as he sings.
And then there's that squeal,
So loud and unreal,
And that rumble of unearthly things:

And suddenly terror is gripping my brain:
Is that the busker or is that the train?!


Well . . . that's my funny (I hope) busker song. I just wrote it but I'm drawing an awful blank when it comes to the music. Would anyone like to set it to music?

Cheers, Chris

Subject: RE: Funny Busker Song
From: Stephen L. Rich
Date: 29 Jul 05 - 12:47 AM

I'll take a crack at it. That's a funny song!!!!

Stephen Lee