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Copyright 2008 by Jeff Suzuki
As anyone who's read this far will know, I believe the secret to being a great creative artist is to be a prolific artist. This song was finished sometime in March 2008. Part of the reason I don't have the exact date is that it's a bit self-indulgent, and I've never actually had the nerve to sing it in front of an audience. But I hey, being self-conscious is the downfall of the performer, so here it is...the music is Dargason.
I met a man in London town Whose words had gained him great renown I said your writing I must ken Please tell me how you shake your pen. When faced with bottles full of ink What strong concoction do you drink Or do you smoke Virginia's weed Or is there something else you need. He turned and smiled and said to me, The secret's there for all to see. To write great works just write a lot Your wasted words will be for got But how I said can you maintain So many stories from your brain? I can not write without some tales But often inspiration fails. He shook his head and then replied The stories all come from outside. Just watch and listen and you'll find A tale or ten to parchment bind. Don't take a page from Holinshed Nay, take the book entire instead A set of scenes are yours for free When you take them from history. Or steal your tales from comic bands Who wander round Italian lands Two star crossed lovers hatch a plan To fake their deaths and leave their clan. Or since the heir's a learned man Who says tobacco we should ban Then use his tome on witchery To glorify his ancestry Then make a story of his life This prince who wed a Danish wife The man with father murdered so Now son to him who struck the blow. Because you've got to pay the rent Some times your talents must be spent On writing trash that pays the bills No matter how it hurts your quills. But even these may prove their worth If better stories they un earth To write great works just write some more And skim the dross out from the ore. So now I scrible all the time It matters not the form or rhyme. A sonnet, story, short or long And that is why I wrote this song!
Notes
In case it's not completely obvious, the “man in London town” is supposed to be Shakespeare.
Tobacco.
I can't remember who said it, but: “Bad writers plagiarize. Great writers steal.” That is to say, all writers pull from the same set of ideas. The truly great writers make the idea their own. As the song notes, Romeo and Juliet is very similar to an Italian comedy (except this time the plan works, and the humor comes from the lovers' attempts to leave town).
James VI of Scotland, who would become James I of England. “The wisest fool in Christendom” according to France's Henry IV. He was indeed a prince of Denmark (through marriage), and his father was killed, his mother married the chief suspect, and her chief councilor was stabbed to death in front of her.
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