Song about my parrot becoming a Rock Star
songwriter
acoustic
folk
home recording
topical
1960s
Creative Commons license
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Story behind the song
This was the first song I wrote for NaSoAlMo. A couple of days earlier, my parrot was incessantly ringing her bell. My wife made a comment about how irritating it was, and I said something like, “But she can ring that bell just like a playing guitar,” turning around the phrase from Johnny B. Goode, “But he could play the guitar just like a ringing a bell.” I wanted this to be a typical rock song from that era. Similar to songs like Johnny B. Goode and Memphis, the lyrics should tell a simple story and be somewhat clever, the music should be basic straight 8’s and driving. It took about 3 hours for me to write this one, and I felt pretty good with the result.
The reason my female bird has a man’s name is because the breeder thought she was male when we got her, a couple of weeks after she was hatched. For several years we thought she was male; parrots have no external sex organs, so you have to have them either surgically sexed or DNA tested. Then I took her to a new (and much better) vet, who thought she was female. She explained that males and females have different health problems, so it is important that we know for sure. The DNA test came back female; Booker T was Booker She. The line about not being able to sing the song refers to the fact that, although Booker tries to sing, she is totally off key. The rest is just fun.
Lyrics
Her parents they were parrots from the Amazon
They’d rock around the nest with their pajamas on
Her papa wrote a song but she could not learn to sing it
So her mama bought a little bell and taught her how to ring it.
She learned to play the bell so well that she became a star
Because that bird could ring that bell just like a-playin’ a guitar.
Chorus:
Booker T. Booker T. rock and roll!
I wanna see ya shake that thing
Booker T. Booker T. Go! Go! Go!
I wanna hear your ding dong ring
The robins will be rockin’ and the swans will swing
They do the birdy boogie under the stars
Tintinnabulation and a jingle-ling
‘Cause she can ring that bell just like a-playin’ guitar
They named her Booker T. because they thought she’d be a boy
But she grew up to be a girl; her daddy’s pride and joy
But right around the age of ten her parents lost control
She was flocking with some chicks that played the rock ‘n roll
She knew there’d be no turning back ‘cause things had gone to far
And she could ring that bell just like a-playin’ a guitar
(Chorus)
(Solo on Chorus)
She learned to ring that bell so well that she became the best.
Jimmy Buffett called her from his boat in Key West
And now this rockin’ parrot head is known throughout the land
She plays the glockenspiel in the Coral Reefer Band
This is a true story though it sounds a bit bizarre
But Booker rings that bell just like a-playin’ a guitar.
(Chorus) x 2