The lyrics for my latest song came to me while I was jaywalking across Jefferson Blvd. by the office. The style of the song came to me while I was changing the light fixtures from fluorescent to LED in the men’s restroom at the office. When I removed one of the fluorescent bulbs from one of the fixtures, the end of the bulb burst into flames. It was really bizarre. Both sockets the bulb’s pins were in melted in the few seconds it took me to twist the bulb out of the sockets while it burst into flames. The flames went out before I could get my phone out of my pocket and do a photo or video. I was standing on a ladder with a burning bulb in my hand, so I wasn’t in a good position to get to my phone. Mark came into the restroom a few seconds later to tell me he had come in to get stuff together to go out to the field tomorrow. I showed him the melted sockets and burned bulb, we talked about his fieldwork, and I forgot to photograph the melted sockets and burned bulb. Anyway, the burning bulb reminded me of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”, which gave me the idea to very loosely write the song in a similar style.

The Jazz Age

Jaywalking
By Timothy Price

Jaywalking
Code talking
Walking round in women’s stockings

Jabberwocky
So shocking
Minor keys we’re really rocking

Shaking booties
Tutti fruity
long-legged exotic beauties

Masked cuties
Black hoodies
We’re all getting COVID cooties

We’re all on our way to nowhere
We once thought we’d go somewhere
We’re on our way to nowhere
But now we’re neither here nor there

We’re all on our way to nowhere
Downtrodden, fallen from grace
We’re on our way to nowhere
Still stuck in the same old place

Pipe dreams
Lost steam
Hogtied, so it seems

Inbred
In the red
Can’t seem to get ahead

Lost time
sublime
No, you’re not on my dime

Not fine
Green slime
Flat tire? It doesn’t rhyme

We’re all on our way to nowhere
We once thought we’d go somewhere
We’re on our way to nowhere
But now we’re neither here nor there

We’re all on our way to nowhere
Downtrodden, fallen from grace
We’re on our way to nowhere
Still stuck in the same old place

YouTubing
KY lubing
Don’t you know we’re really grooving

Zoom bombing
Face palming
We’re out of sync. Why you calling?

Youth aging
Folks gaging
While the culture wars are waging

Been raped
No probate
It seems like there’s no escape

We’re all on our way to nowhere
We once thought we’d go somewhere
We’re on our way to nowhere
But now we’re neither here nor there

We’re all on our way to nowhere
Downtrodden, fallen from grace
We’re on our way to nowhere
Still stuck in the same old place