Talking Pop Art - Tom Paxton

Well I went out for a walk last week,

I passed a shop they call a boutique.

Fancy Dresses of every size, fancy wigs to pop your eyes.

Bracelets, diamond rings, stuff for women too.

Well I didn’t want to see no more,

I slipped inside the grocery store.

I took down a can of beans, I pulled a dollar out of my jeans.

A fella said «Hold it, that’ll be three hundred dollars»

Well a feather could’ve knocked me down,

I mean, I knew this was a high priced town.

But this was getting hard to take, I said «What the hell do you get for steak?»

He looked surprised, said «It isn’t just a can of beans, It’s a work of art»

Now I see what the poor man means,

He’s proud of that little can of beans.

I didn’t hear what else he said, I had my eyes on a loaf of bread.

«White bread four-hundred dollars;

Three for a thousand»

Well just about then a crowd came in,

And pickin’s must’ve been pretty slim.

Because in just a minute, or three, or four,

They’d cleaned out that whole grocery store.

They bought brooms,

Fought over watermelons,

One fella put down a pickle.

Said «I don’t know much about art,

But I know what I like»

Well as I stood there wonderin' why,

Two little fellas came cruising by.

Little tight suits, little black ties,

One of them looked at me and said «My how rustic, I bid a thousand»

I said «I beg your pardon»

«It speaks, I bid five thousand»

So here I stand in a Superman suit,

And everybody says I’m cute.

I tried to tell them but they would not see,

So they hang their hats and coats on me.

Well a job’s a job.

Still if I had my preference, I’d rather be Batman