Song picture
#28- Teddy (1982)
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Single   $0.5
My first of many many historical songs, and one of a number about presidents
folk funny political sixties novelty gentle prolific idiosyncratic lehrer jefferson airplane ochs paxton steve goodman
Artist picture
Tom Paxton meets Jefferson Airplane. Extremely prolific singer songwriter with a wide range of styles from bizarre novelty tunes and surrealistic poetic songs t
With more than 300 songs and counting and for more than 30 years, I have written in a variety of acoustic styles from novelty tunes to love songs to historical ballads to poetic surrealistic songs to retro-acoustic pop. From bizarre to traditional from funny to poignant, whatever style the song is in, the melodies are usually memorable and the lyrics unpredictable. This site will eventually contain rough often first take demos of my entire song catalogue. Many of the earliest songs when I first started writing will of course be shaky. So expect the songs to get better as time goes on. Feel free to come back and browse often as I will constantly be adding songs, one by one in chronological order, starting in 1974. If you are looking for some unusual songs to cover from a little known but unique artist, you have come to the right place. Just e-mail me. If you find a song here that intrigues you, but you don't like a line or two, or you think it needs a bridge, drop me an e-mail and maybe you can earn writer's credit if it gets that song to be recorded or performed.... otherwise just enjoy. You can become a Rob Lincoln fan at no cost to you. I promise that if you keep coming back there will be some real surprises along the way. While mostly acoustic, some original material will veer into folk rock and even 60's pop, but the garage rock and loudest material will also be found in full band arrangement at soundclick.com/abrasiveflowers Eventually some of these 300+ tunes may be rerecorded and make it on to CD, including a novelty CD that would be suitable for Dr. Demento or an historical ballad CD or a political song CD--but until then, this is the only site you can hear most of these songs. (A few of my songs CAN be found on songramp.com/RobLincoln and myspace.com/lessickandlincoln)
Song Info
Charts
Peak #486
Peak in subgenre #64
Author
Rob Lincoln
Rights
1982
Uploaded
February 10, 2007
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.1 MB 128 kbps 4:30
Story behind the song
Teddy represents one of the subjects I would return to again and again---American History. This is the first of more than half a dozen songs I've written about presidents. It's about Teddy Roosevelt, of course. Incidentally, recently a book came out specifically about Teddy's expedition to the River of Doubt. It's called River of Doubt and it's a great read. I highly recommend it. The photo is of Teddy during his almost fatal expedition to the River of Doubt. Mp3 Club listeners gave it a 3.3 out of 5. Some comments included: "Interesting song....I can hear this one accompanying a movie about Teddy....Love the falsetto ....and the contradictions in this song...Interesting song" "the lyrics don't always flow in the music (extra syllables, accent on wrong syllable)- its ok sometimes" "Not a bad song, but it doesn’t appeal to a wide audience."
Lyrics
Mustachioed man with wire eyeglasses Pudgy cheeks and a loveable face Imagine him strolling through the deep dark Amazon Shooting bullets, murdering animals with grace Teddy never drank from the River of Doubt (3x) River of Doubt Exploring jungles fierce he never feared nature's course But jungle fever made him prematurely grey War games were his favorite sport A progressive at home, a reactionary away Teddy never drank from the River of Doubt (3x) River of Doubt A charismatic man who knew just what to do Gave the common man a hand Started conservation too Bully bully Teddy never drank from the River of Doubt (3x) River of Doubt While giving a speech a bullet lodged in to his chest But he kept on talking and speaking some more "A man is not a man until he's shed some blood" But who will bear the blood Mr. Theodore? Teddy never drank from the River of Doubt (3x) River of Doubt Carry a big stick and bash them if they're bad He fought big companies he made the rich man sad Bully bully Teddy never drank from the River of Doubt (3x) River of Doubt About blood and gore he was always so sure Till Quentin who was his favorite son Did something quite unimaginable That rained on Teddy's parade He died--he was killed in the Great War The book said that Teddy died not soon afterward From a dreaded disease contracted at the Amazon Near the River of Doubt perhaps some tainted water But this I do not believe It must have been something else For Teddy never drank from the River of Doubt
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