I am an Illinoisan. And Rod Blagojevich was my governor until his recent troubles. I was feeling inspired one late night, thinking about Blago and my wonderfully scandalous home state. The news of his downfall was fresh. I wrote this song in honor of this odd, megalomaniacal man. It is my first (& only) tryst with a political theme. While I was writing it, I could not help but think of this song by the great Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise.
My gallant gov'na
Its a quagmire
You've got yourself in
You've taken the dollar
From the highest bidder
You're so, so brazen
My gallant gov'na
A cold night in Serbia
Looks so much better, don't ya think
There were madman lawmen
Tapin' your conversation
Yet, somehow you were so sanguine
So, look out, Blagojevich
Stop stratching that itch
So, look out, Blagojevich
Why be powerfully rich?
My gallant gov'na
From the city of Chicago
Where the mouths move like the wind
You know, the Tribune paper
Sure was a counterproductor
So you sought amelioration
My gallant gov'na
Are your confidants with ya
Best give them another wink wink
There's backside boys backin'
Back out of your kitchen
Aren't they such, such swine
So, look out, Blagojevich
Stop stratching that itch
So, look out, Blagojevich
Why be powerfully rich?
My gallant gov'na...
Its a quagmire
You've got yourself in
You've taken the dollar
From the highest bidder
You're so, so brazen
My gallant gov'na
A cold night in Serbia
Looks so much better, don't ya think
There were madman lawmen
Tapin' your conversation
Yet, somehow you were so sanguine
So, look out, Blagojevich
Stop stratching that itch
So, look out, Blagojevich
Why be powerfully rich?
My gallant gov'na
From the city of Chicago
Where the mouths move like the wind
You know, the Tribune paper
Sure was a counterproductor
So you sought amelioration
My gallant gov'na
Are your confidants with ya
Best give them another wink wink
There's backside boys backin'
Back out of your kitchen
Aren't they such, such swine
So, look out, Blagojevich
Stop stratching that itch
So, look out, Blagojevich
Why be powerfully rich?
My gallant gov'na...
In this song I sometimes rhymed in places far away from each other, rather more like poetry I think. I don't know if that is a good device in a song, because they are so distant from each other, the idea of rhyme is sort of lost. Far-flung examples are in/wind, brazen/amelioration, think/wink, sanguine/swine. Despite its shortcomings, I enjoy having different layers of complexity in the song, so I can see myself doing that kind of stuff again.
Blago is an interesting dude. It is weird to write a song about him & his travails. I know that. But I still think that I did a good job capturing this most momentous moment of his in this song, though, seriously, he is a mere "B movie" politician with nutty hair. When he is long long out of the public's mind, I will have this song to reprise him into others' brains for a moment or two (not that others' brains would welcome it).
I like topics a little off the beaten path. Expect that from me.
Side Note: I was transferring this song by a very old typewriter to very old-looking brown paper one day and by accident I transmogrified the penultimate verse as My gallant gov'na/Are your confidants with ya/Aren't they such, such swine?. I really like it that way. Accidents can be better than anything purposeful sometimes. After Blago's trial, I might have to write the remix, depending on how many backstabbers surface.
