Signs of Life

No, this blog is not dead yet! I just haven't had much inspiration as far as blog posts are concerned in the past several months, nor have I mustered the will to start trying to summarize three weeks I spent in Europe in August. (So much to say, plus over 2000 pictures... I still don't particularly want to sort through all that.)

But inspiration always comes from the unlikeliest places. In this case, it was a video of Stephen Harper singing "With a Little Help from My Friends" with backup from, among others, Yo-Yo Ma. It was the first definitive confirmation of Harper's status as a living human being, and actually a pretty good performance to boot. So, in honour of this, I decided to write my first new song parody in several months, a summary of major political events in the last two months. Its title, "Signs of Life", has a triple meaning, referring to Harper showing signs of life, the Canadian political arena showing signs of life, and this blog showing signs of life. In short, signs of life signs of life signs of life signs of life signs of just post the song already.

(Note: I apologize if the meter is slightly off in parts. Usually I sing my parodies out loud to make sure they fit, but today I have a very annoying sore throat. I may therefore edit it once I can talk again.)


"Signs of Life"
By Keith Lehwald
A parody of "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles
October 4, 2009

I saw the news today, oh boy
'Bout a prime minister who sang a song
And though he sang it rather well
Well, I just had to grin
I saw a YouTube vid
He sang a classic Beatles tune
From Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The audience all stood to clap
Meanwhile the orchestra
Just sat back and used all their effort so as not to start to laugh

I saw an ad today, oh boy
The Opposition in a leafy glen
The masses all let out a yawn
But I just had to look
Having read his book
I'd love to win your vote

Woke up, got out of bed
No hair to comb atop my head
Put my helmet on and had to go
Rode my bike down, destination PMO
Saw the man, we had a chat
Made a deal, and just like that
The election's dead and we relaxed
Then somebody asked 'bout my credibility
Ahhhh…

I read the news today, oh boy
Some kind of tussle over Outremont
The party lost their Quebec man
But they don't need a hand
Until they figure out where it was they parked the campaign van
I'd love to win your vote


This is Keith Lehwald, reminding people not to call anything dead until they see the coroner's report. (Not that they do reports on blogs, but... OK, I admit it, this is a failed metaphor. Give a sick guy a break.)