Universal Studios StarWay
Piano Man
The Billy Joel Newsletter published an article about the bar on which Piano Man is based. It was torn down in the 1980s but in 1972 it looked something like this:
Executive Room in the Wilshire District during the 1970s
Billy Joel, who turned sixty-five last week, that's right, 65, has long said all the characters in the song are real people from that bar. What a kick in the head it would be to have seen him play for tips in the Executive Room!
It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Making love to his tonic and gin
He says, "Son can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet
And I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes"
Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright
Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me"
As a smile ran away from his face
"Well, I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place"
Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life
And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinking alone
Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright
It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
To forget about life for a while
And the piano sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say "Man what are you doing here?"
Sing us a song you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright.
2-Man Doo-Wop Group
This makes me smile.
I've been watching it over and over since Friday afternoon.
Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you.
Vacation, All I Ever Wanted
I'm hanging out with Beth and Kathy at Grauman's Chinese Theater right now.
Or maybe exploring Madame Tussaud's.
Beth's never seen the Walk of Fame.
More on all that soon.
Any way you slice it,
the Greaser Reunion is in full swing
and I am hanging out with my sisters.
Can't seem to get my mind off of you
Back here at home there's nothin' to do
Now that I'm away
I wish I'd stayed
Tomorrow's a day of mine
That you won't be in
When you looked at me
I should've run
But I thought it was just for fun
I see I was wrong
And I'm not so strong
I should've known all along
That time would tell
A week without you
Thought I'd forget
Two weeks without you and I
Still haven't gotten over you yet
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone
A week without you
Thought I'd forget
Two weeks without you and I
Still haven't gotten over you yet
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone
Rose, Ah Poor Bird, Hey Ho (round)
Rose, Rose, Rose, Rose,
Will I ever see thee wed?
I will marry at thy will, sire,
At thy will.
Ah, poor bird,
Why art thou
Flying in the shadows
At this dark hour?
Hey, ho, nobody home.
Eat nor drink nor money have I none.
Still I will be very merry.
Hey, ho, nobody home.
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
My Rose She Died
My Rose She Died
My Rose she died.
She died for her love.
Her lover he died for sorrow.
They buried them both
In the churchyard
In graves both deep and narrow.
And up from hers'n
There grew a rose.
And up from his'n a briar.
They clumbed and clumbed
Up the church tower.
The red rose and the briar.
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
Chairs to Mend
Chairs to Mend
Chairs to mend, old chairs to mend.
Mackerel, fresh mackerel.
Any old rags, any old rags?
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
Circle Game
Circle Game
Yesterday a child went out to wander
Caught a dragon fly inside a jar.
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star.
chorus
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on a carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came.
And go 'round, and 'round, and 'round in the circle game.
Now the boy's gone ten times 'round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams.
Words like when you're older must appease him
And promise of "someday"make his dreams.
chorus
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on a carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came.
And go 'round, and 'round, and 'round in the circle game.
Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels though the town
And they tell him, take your time, it won't be long now
Till you drag your feet to slow those circles down.
chorus
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on a carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came.
And go 'round, and 'round, and 'round in the circle game.
Years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
But there'll be new dreams, even better dreams and plenty
Before that last revolving year is through.
chorus
And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down.
We're captive on a carousel of time.
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came.
And go 'round, and 'round, and 'round in the circle game.
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
Charmin' Betsy
Charmin' Betsy
chorus
All around the mountain charmin' Betsy
All around the mountain Laura Lee
If I ever see her again
May the good Lord remember me!
City girls they wear those tight silk skirts.
Country girls they wear the same.
Mountain girls wear big overalls
But they get there just the same.
chorus
City girls they wear those high heeled shoes.
Country girls they wear the same.
Mountain girls wear big hiking boots
But they get there just the same.
chorus
City girls they wear that fancy perfume.
Country girls they wear the same.
Mountain girls go au natural
But they get there just the same.
chorus
City girls they use those flush toilets.
Country girls they wear the same.
Mountain girls find a friendly bush
But they get there just the same.
chorus
City girls they drive those fancy cars.
Country girls they wear the same.
Mountain girls just jump on a horse
But they get there just the same.
chorus
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
Chicken
Chicken
C: That's the way it begin.
H: That's the second letter in.
I: I am the third letter.
C: Is the fourth letter in that bird, Oh!
K: We're filling in.
E: We're near the end.
Oh, C-H-I-C-K-E-N.
That's the way you spell "chicken."
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
This Land
This Land
This land is your land, this land is my land,
from California to the New York Islands,
from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters,
the land was made for you and me.
As I went walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway,
I saw below me that golden valley,
saying, this land was made for you and me.
This land is your land, this land is my land,
from California to the New York Islands,
from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters,
the land was made for you and me.
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
Linger
Linger
Mmm I want to linger
Mmm a little longer
Mmm a little longer here with you.
Mmm it's such a perfect night
Mmm it doesn't seem quite right
Mmm that this should be our last with you.
Mmm when come September
Mmm we will remember
Mmm our camping days and friendships true
Mmm and as the years go by
Mmm we'll think of you and sigh
Mmm this is goodnight and not goodbye.
Mmm I want to linger
Mmm a little longer
Mmm a littler longer here with you.
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
The Star Spangled Banner
The Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
Kookaburra
Kookaburra
Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
Gay your life must be.
Ha, ha, ha.
Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree
Eating all the gumdrops he can see
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Save some there for me
Yum, yum, yum.
Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Don't you dare count me!
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.
On My Honor
On My Honor
People don't need to know my name
If I've done any harm, then I'm to blame.
If I've helped another, then I've helped me.
And I've opened up my eyes to see.
chorus
On my honor, I will try.
There's a duty to be done and I say I.
There's a reason to be here for a reason above.
My honor is to try and my duty is to love.
I've tucked away a song or two.
If you're feeling low, there's one for you.
If you need a friend, then I will come
And there's many more where I come from.
chorus
On my honor, I will try.
There's a duty to be done and I say I.
There's a reason to be here for a reason above.
My honor is to try and my duty is to love.
Friendship is the strangest thing
If you keep it to yourself, no reward will bring
but you gave it away, you gave it to me
and from now on great friends we'll be.
chorus
On my honor, I will try.
There's a duty to be done and I say I.
There's a reason to be here for a reason above.
My honor is to try and my duty is to love.
Come with me where the fire burns bright,
We can even see better by the candle's light.
And we'll find more meaning in a campfire's glow,
Than we've ever found in a year or so.
chorus
On my honor, I will try.
There's a duty to be done and I say I.
There's a reason to be here for a reason above.
My honor is to try and my duty is to love.
We've a promise to always keep.
And to pray "Softly Falls" before we sleep.
We are Girl Scouts together and when we're gone,
We'll still be trying and singing this song.
chorus
On my honor, I will try.
There's a duty to be done and I say I.
There's a reason to be here for a reason above.
My honor is to try and my duty is to love.
Courtesy of the Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council.