Hi everybody,

my brother Henni has been claiming ever since that I don’t have a brain like anybody else but that there must be some sort of very strange dough in my skull. He’s been a successful pro comedian for more than 30 years and my loving brother for more than 60 years - so he should be able to judge it. And since my lovely wife Maha tends to share his view, I’m afraid this diagnosis can’t be all wrong and whatever that stuff’s made of: I gently call it ‘my weirdough’.

The project I’m coming up with today is indeed the second weirdest thing I’ve put together so far (the weirdest one is yet to be posted here), so it’s probably not everybody’s cup of tea, but there was a time last year (following the „Nothing’s-Easy-Anymore phase) when I simply had to really let it all hang out. And believe me: Everybody involved (Henni, Maha and my best friend Harald) had the fun of their lives!

Let’s get to the beef: The song title ‘Life Is Like A Sewer’ is a quote from a monologue that my all-time favorite U.S. comedian, Tom Lehrer, put in front of his song „We’ll all go together when we go’ on his live album „An Evening (Wasted) with T. L.) which he released in 1959 (!). It may sound a bit rude at first sight, but it continues like this: ’What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it’, which is something we might all agree upon, don’t we. (Although I’m not quite sure if this philosophical principle is still in operation these days.)

Since T. L. has shaped my sense of humor like nobody else I felt that I finally, after more than 50 years, owed him a tribute song, and so writing the lyrics to it I did my very best to catch at least one minute spark of his immortal spirit, that is his ethics, his elegant eloquence and, yes, his cynicism. Tom, if you ever read this: Please forgive me my hubris!

Musically I had a dream come true that I’m sure every musician has: I created a new fusion genre, even though I’m still not sure how to name it: either PRURF or SURTEST. Whatever, it’s a blend of surf music and protest song, either one genre we all grew up with and will love till the end of time, of course.

Now you might think that it would be an obviousness that such a new thrilling style should be introduced by the best musicians of both worlds... Ah, no, sorry, for some inexplicable reasons they turned me down, so I had to make do with what you might consider the worst of both worlds instead. And worse still: These ‘ersatz’ musicians aren’t even native English speakers... Where was the wall when we - ah, I mean; when you really needed it...?

Although I also posted the somg on Soundcloud I think the mere tune doesn’t really work without the video (I’m not really expecting to get into the Hall of Fame with it), and especially the intro will shed a light on how the heck all this could happen. So I recommend that you give the flick a chamce - even if it’s only for making the fortune I spent on Hawaiian shirts and wigs worthwhile...

LIFE IS LIKE A SEWER (video & lyrics)
LIFE IS LIKE A SEWER (audio & lyrics)
LIFE IS LIKE A SEWER (Soundcloud)

In advance: Thanks a lot for watching and listening.

These are the musical data:

Key=Bb , Tempo 130, Length (m:s)=2:38
Style is _SURFSWP.STY (Swing-8ths Surf Pop)
RealTracks in style: ~1844:Bass, Electric, CountryBoogieArp Sw 110
RealTracks in style: ~1549:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm CountrySwing Sw 110
RealTracks in style: 2427:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm RockabillySlowSwingBrent Sw 085
RealDrums in style: SurfPopSwing^01-a:Snare, ClosedHat, b:Snare, OpenHat

I discarded:
RealTracks in style: 2452:String Quartet, Rhythm PopSwingHall Sw 110

and added:
RT 425: B3 Organ
RT424:Harmonica, Soloist Blues Sw 120

To be honest: All the vocal stuff is me, and before you sit down and hammer your disgust at that atrocious falsetto singing into your key pad: I’ve already been nominated for the 2019 Tiny-Tim-Award and as far as I heard it thru the grapevi..., sorry, thru the tulips, of course: I’m still the front-runner.

So if you’re in the right mood you might at least get a bit ... ah, entertained by the flick. And one thing’s for sure: Watching it will undoubtedly leave you with the question, ‘What in the world can make a 67-year old fart spend (did I hear you say: ‘waste’?) three months of his precious remaining time down here on such goofy stuff?’

Weirdough! What else?

Cheers (and please, don't get mad at me)

Stefan