Oh! Obama (song)

Time for a folksy-country banjo song methinks: Feedback please, also which version best? Just thought some bits might be too far.

To the tune of OH SUSANNAH (Apparently by Stephen Foster in 1847):

Well I come from Arizona and I'm nearly seventy-three
I may be old but I am still a Presidential nominee
Now it looks as though I'm gonna lose
I'm trailing in the polls
My only hope now is to black
Up Sarkozy voodoo dolls.

Oh Obama
Now don't you cry for me
If I lose I will retire, with Sarah Palin on my knee

Well I heard the News the other night
And it made me feel quite ill
To hear the commentators say
I am over the hill

That also said they're not impressed
With my choice of running mate
Though I half suspect they're jealous
And want to ask her on a date

(Alternatives to the above paragraph: bad taste?

They said white supremacists planned
To shoot you in the head
I guess that shortens the odds
That I'll be the first one dead

Or:
They also weren't all that impressed by Palin the "Hockey Mom"
I thought they were rather unkind when
They said she's a bit dumb)

But I say: Oh, Obama
Now, don't you cry for me
If I lose I will retire with Sexy Palin on my knee

Think the Sarkozy vodoo doll reference is a bit of a stretch. Don't see a bad taste problem with you alternate verse, but I would like to see more of the original rhymes used. (Am I right in thinking you have also changed the rhyme scheme on the later verses from aabb to abcb?)

Quote: Timbo @ November 1 2008, 6:23 PM BST

Think the Sarkozy vodoo doll reference is a bit of a stretch. Don't see a bad taste problem with you alternate verse, but I would like to see more of the original rhymes used. (Am I right in thinking you have also changed the rhyme scheme on the later verses from aabb to abcb?)

View original

Suppose was a bit lazy in the rhyming. There seem to be a few versions of this, but the one I used as a structure guide was:

Well I come from alabama with my banjo on my knee
And Im bound for louisiana, my own true love for to see
It did rain all night the day I left
The weather was bone dry
The sun was so hot I froze myself
Suzanne, dont you go on and cry

I said, oh, suzannah
Now, dont you cry for me
As I come from alabama with this banjo on my knee

Well I had myself a dream the other night
When everything was still
I dreamed that I saw my girl suzanne
She was coming around the hill
Now, the buckwheat cake was in her mouth
A tear was in her eye
I said, that I come from dixie land
Suzanne, dont you break down and cry

I said, oh, suzannah
Now, dont you cry for me
cause I come from alabama with my banjo on my knee

No, fair enough at the verse level the rhyme structure is right. But the eye/cry rhyme ties the verses together, and it is an easy one to use, so I would suggest keeping it.