Benjibopper

The print's kind of small in this, but it's a great little piece on the comeback of one Ivan Prokopchuk, a long-time blogger pal who I met all-too-briefly at the Toronto launch of Drive-by Saviours last fall. Go Ivan go!

[My brother wrote a great tune for this but it's not online anymore so here are the lyrics alone]:

Went into the City
Escaped from the trees
away from the lions
chasing me

Bought a robot
to fix me drinks
sat on my porch
so I could think

Planes overhead
through clouds and smog
shut the factory down
No more jobs

Homeless for miles
but the coal still burns
Bums on the freeway
amphetamine turns

Get me out of here
Can't take it no more
Get me out of here
Trash on the rat-race floor

Went back to the farmland
put the tractor in gear
Tilled my fields
until they were clear

Cut down the trees
for my fireplace
Looked in the mirror
at a stranger's face

Worked the good earth
fought the pests
Grew me some veggies
The flowers sold best

Lonely worked the land for years
Lonely now there's nothin' left

Get me out of here
Can't take it no more
Get me out of here
This life is an endless chore

Went into the forest
back to the trees
Prayed for redemption
on fragile knees

Walked through woods
lived on berries and leaves
Wandered forever
alone with me

Went raving mad
Fought with myself
spent seven years
In a paradise hell

Surrounded by beauty
Nothing to do
No one to share
What would you do?

Get me out of here
Can't take it no more
Get me out of here
This beauty's a bore

Went into the city
Escaped from the trees...

Labels: 2005, philosophy, Poetry, Toronto