- Next »
- Previous
n - Ray Stevens
MR BUSINESSMAN - RAY STEVENS c1968
Itemize the things you covet
As you squander through your life
Bigger
cars, bigger houses
Term insurance for your wife
Tuesday evenings with
your harlot
And on Wednesdays it's your charlatan
analyst, he's high
upon your list
You've got air conditioned sinuses
And dark
disturbing doubts about religion
And you keep those cards and letters going
out
While your secretary's tempting you
Your morals are exempting you
from guilt and shame
Heaven knows you're not to blame
Refrain:
You better, Take care of business Mr. Businessman
What's your plan?
Get down to business Mr. Businessman if you can
(Before it's too late
and you throw your life away) 1st time
Did you see your children growing
up today
And did you hear the music of their laughter
As they set about
to play
Did you catch the fragrance of those roses in your garden
Did
the morning sunlight warm your soul,
Brighten up your day
Do you qualify
to be alive
or is the limit of your senses so as only to survive
Hey
yeah.....
Spending counterfeit incentive
Wasting precious time and
health
Placing value on the worthless
Disregarding priceless wealth
You can wheel and deal the best of them
And steal it from the rest of
them
You know the score, their ethics are a bore
Eighty-six
anesthetic crutches prop you to the top
Where the smiles are all synthetic
And the ulcers never stop
When they take that final inventory,
Yours
will be the same sad story everywhere
No one will really care, no one more
lonely than
This rich important man, let's have your autograph
Endorse
your epitaph
refrain
.........
The best lyric I come across from Ray Stevens - but what a lyric - packed full and still relevant today especially in this age of Targets and form filling and assessments and surveilance etc etc. The vocabulary immediately grabbed me. "Itemize the the things you covet" etc. Bob Dylan had opened up the doors a few years yearlier and revolutionised the concept of the pop lyric (at least for some). It speaks for itself and some one has made a cartoon from it on you tube - although it doesn't sound like Ray Steven's version of the song.