Dylan. McCartney. Morrissey and Marr. John and Taupin. That guy from Moraga… Jess from Starbucks…
If you’re the type who can’t seem to stop scroodling (new word, see what you made us do?) song lyrics on cocktail napkins or on your school notebooks and humming tunes in the shower, work cubicle or school, then we want to hear from you.
Write a song or a poem, something with multiple verses or stanzas and something, you know, something Eminem hooky, about this hard-rocking highway-bisected quadrant of Suburban Heaven we all live in, and impress the NEWS24/680 readership with your lyrical skills.
We won’t fly you off to St. Kitts for a recording session with Kanye or Beyonce but we will sing your praises to the multitudes and pony up an hour-long, stress-relieving rubdown courtesy of the folks at Elements Massage in Walnut Creek. And who among us couldn’t use a massage these days, right?
We’ve included a little Randy Newman and his anthem for the City of Angels for inspiration.
No restrictions on your work, just none of the obvious transgressions and something artsy, perhaps a tune or a tome with just enough of a sly undercurrent of wit and human observation to set a smile creeping across the face of the guy who yells at your kids to get off his lawn. Make sure you capture the spirit of our area, and it doesn’t have to be Chamber of Commerce cutesy, either.
Looking for a little lyrical honesty. Now, what rhymes with Sink Hole?
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of competition to date. I may give it a shot. What is the deadline?
Morning! We’ll keep it open for a bit… people don’t feel like singing these past couple of days, we get it. Hopefully we can get past the enmity and make some music. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
All I’ve got for “sink hole” is “mink stole.”
@Matt – Ha! That’ll work! Put it together, Bluesman!
Here’s mine. It’s a song to the tune of Mendocino. I’ll provide a link for those who don’t know it.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xte6y_sir-douglas-quintet-mendocino_music
Lamorinda
We’ve got all kinds of rainbows
And it hardly ever snows
So if we’re not walking in green meadows
We have our choice of movie shows
We’ve got no time for cheap thrills
Lamorinda, Lamorinda
All it takes is some money
To live in the land of milk and honey
Yeah we’ve got News 24/680
They report to us daily
They know we live in our own world
Yes, our own lovely little dreamworld
So think of us what you will
Lamorinda, Lamorinda
It’s not just a lot of spin
No other place will get under your skin
Yeah we’ve got sinkholes aplenty
There’s one in Rheem measures fifteen by twenty
But when it swallowed a lightpole
We were so hard to console
Til the feds agreed to pick up the bill
Lamorinda, Lamorinda
Where the hydrants are all runnin’ scared
And our sinkhole’s still not gettin’ repaired
@Matt
I tripped over my mink stole
Fell into a sinkhole
It’s perfect! With me as your only competition (so far) you could win this.
@Matt & Pamela: Yep, we were really looking forward to seeing mink stole worked into a song lyric!
“Ode to Lamorinda”
Sung to the tune of “King of the Road”
Nice homes and swimming pools
Highly educated excellent schools
The schools all rated tens
Spoiled kids driving Mercedes Benz.
News 24/680 will keep you informed
Rich or poor or uniformed
Mr. News will make you laugh and cry
You won’t want to say goodbye.
Professional athletes like living here
Making money and drinking beer
We used to live by Steve Curry
He up and moved in a hurry.
Hanging out at the reservoir
With family and friends it’s never a bore
A little hiking always a good time
Healthy exercise won’t cost you a dime.
Having breakfast at Millie’s real early
She was a dear, sweet lady and never surly
Meeting up with friends and my Dad
Her recent passing left a lot of us sad.
Looking back how it could have went
Rolling the change just to make the rent
A GED and taking the bus
Shacking up with some guy named Gus.
Be we worked real hard and here we are
Degrees, state exams and passing the bar
Thanks to Mom and Dad for taking the lead
And encouraging your children to succeed!
I’m a former Cougar and I used to cheer
Our football team plays well every year
Next year when they win let’s all go to the game
If we miss out it will be a darn shame!
So one last time let’s shout out loud
We’re Lamorindans and so dang proud
Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda
Love Lamorinda!
@Danielle – um, well, that’s pretty dang good! You guys are going to make this tough to judge!
Try this one on homie: (To Ice Cube – It Was a Good Day)
It Was a 680 Day
Waking up in the 680, gotta thank God,
Eyeing all the mommas on Danville Boulevard.
Purse dogs yipping, yoga pants tight,
Got my grub on, quinoa done right.
Headhunter callin’, software gig you know,
May have to work a while, get the debt down low.
Hook it up later, naw, too nice a day,
Grabbed the Trek, dodged a wreck, steered for Ashby Way.
Pedaled a quick 20, then did 20 mo,
Not even breathing hard when my ass hit the doah.
Walked into Sideboard like I owned it, bike shoes a’scraping,
Checking out the honeys and the kitchen busy crepeing.
Power lunching with my homies, everything is just tight,
Little guy in the corner owns half the Valley outright.
Waffles and ‘cakes and fruit bowls I’m stackin’,
Spin class is over and the joint is just crackin’,
I gotta go cause I got me an i8,
Doors fly like birdwings, the ladies think I’m straight.
Throw the Trek in, stop at a red light,
Checkin’ all my glass, not a jacker in sight.
It’s a 680 Day – Everything is alright
Well I can probably guess who’s getting that free massage. Great job Robert!
Pretty catchy. Going with 3 so far