These days we can probably say that there are a lot of things out there that would make us believe we are all alone. But as I was watching the news on CNN recently, I turned to my wife and said, “I miss Walter Cronkite…” She replied, “I know what you mean.” I turned the channel to Comedy Central.
I kept thinking about that line though. What was it I missed? His take on the news? or his demeanor? I remember Cronkite and I watched him once in a while when I was a bit older. I primarily remember him from the moon shots because I was glued to the TV during all of the Apollo missions.
I wrote a quick verse about Cronkite and then started to write freely about other TV personalities that I admired from my youth and I came up with Johnny Carson, Carroll O’Connor, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore and a few more. I loved TV when I was a kid in the 70′s: The Rockford Files, All In The Family, Sanford and Son, Mary Tyler Moore Show. There are no shows on like those today. I loved watching them and became familiar with the characters. But, these days I got nobody to turn to for good news, good laughs, good drama. Ah! There’s my hook!
I wrote the lyrics to this song first, so while I was trying to find a melody I kept hearing this train beat running through the song and I knew that this was going to be one of those hillbilly twang tunes. If and when I do record this for a CD I’m going to have to find someone that is well versed in that style of playing because I’m just hinting at what I wanted from the electric guitar.
A tip of the hat goes to Andrea Stolpe and her book “Popular Lyric Writing” for helping me through the rest of this song. I’m going to continue to use her 10-step process in my future lyric writings.
Let me know what you think!
Peace
~dg~
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These Days
I miss seeing Walter Cronkite
On the network evening news
Everything he said to me
Seemed like it was the truth
His voice was like my father’s
So serious an calm
I felt like was coming home
Every time I turned him on
But these days
I got nobody to turn to
These days
I don’t know who is wrong or who is right
These days are pullin’ me
Underneath the blankets
These days are turning
Into one long night
I miss seeing Johnny Carson
On TV late at night
I didn’t always get his jokes
But I guess that was alright
Easing out onto the stage
As Doc played that famous theme
One-liners about our messed up world
And he’d put my mind at ease
But these days
I got nobody to turn to
These days
I don’t know who is wrong or who is right
These days are pullin’ me
Underneath the blankets
These days are turning
Into one long night
I place my hand
Upon the TV set
A cool digital spirit
That conjures no respect
Self-absorbed reality
Our pop culture fad
The good stuff’s all gone boy
And it ain’t comin’ back
Mary Tyler Moore’s not in
My house on Saturdays
Like she she used to be
Back in the 1970’s
She was like my big sister
Who had moved far away from home
But I could always drop in on her life
Whenever I felt all alone
But these days
I got nobody to turn to
These days
I don’t know who is wrong or who is right
These days are pullin’ me
Underneath the blankets
These days are turning
Into one long night
© 2009
You’re right. The Rockford Files, All In The Family, Sanford and Son, Mary Tyler Moore Show are all gone. Instead we have Saving Grace, Weeds, The Office, Mad Men, Heroes, South Park, Entourage…
Really love that series, South Park knows mixing humor and ridicule to expose the taboo of society and is a recipe that works, then saw to it continue!