Jimmy Brown The Blues Boy - Tim O'Brien

I write some songs and sing 'em too my name is Jimmy Brown

Everybody knows that I play music in this town

Well I used to make a decent wage, the children all could eat

They all had hats upon their heads, and shoes upon their feet

But in the book of history my children turned the page

They don’t read the morning paper sir in this computer age

They still like their music sir, but now they get it free

And the morning paper fills the holes in the shoes upon my feet

The Internet’s a wondrous thing with all the tools it brings

I like to use that Google when I write the songs I sing

But the very thing that helped me sir is part of my demise

Peer to Peer is eating up my little piece of pie

They rip my disk, compress the files and mail it that same day

Well I’m still making music sir, and I still got to live

But you still listen to my songs, and something’s got to give

If I had been that guy who wrote that «Grand Theft Auto» theme

I might still be living that good old American Dream

Well I need to write a hit song that’ll play on your cellphone

I’d have some bacon with my beans if you buy my ringtone

America was built upon an interesting idea

It started up in Boston back in 1773

They had a big 'ole party there, they made salt water tea

But the party never ended, we still want our stuff for free

Well we hate our politicians with their evil taxing ways

We want good roads, we want good schools, but we don’t want to pay

We all want to have our cake, we want to eat it too

It’s been a grand experiment, but now the bill is due

Four stages in a picker’s life, first two is Jimmy Brown

The next is «Get me Jimmy Brown», then «Get me a young Jimmy Brown»

I been through stages 1−2-3, and now I’m feeling down

The only stage that’s left for me is «who is Jimmy Brown»

Flatt and Scruggs would sing this song, but the words are not the same

They guy that wrote this music sir, I do not know his name

But I sure know who wrote these words, I swear that I ain’t lyin'

They guy who wrote this parody, his name… is Tim O’Brien