[Paulski]

OK - I don't often get political - but couldn't resist.
In case you don't know, a snake oil salesman is not very well respected this side of the Atlantic
Comments would be greatly appreciated!

 CLARK STANLEY SNAKE OIL
 Copyright © 2016 Tennyson Road Music

 Back in 1893
 Scott Joplin tickled his keys
 People came from all around
 Crowded into Chicago town
 In a corner of the fair
 There was a miracle cure for sale
 Claimed to fix your pains and aches
 Said to come from rattlesnakes

 It's good for man or beast!
 You'll get immediate relief!
 Just 50 cents in stamps
 Gets rid of all your cramps!

 "It's good for everything a liniment ought to be good for!"
 CLARK STANLEY SNAKE OIL

 A lot of folks got taken in
 By this sketchy medicine
 So a man from the government
 Took a sample, ran some tests
 He discovered that oily paste
 Hadn't ever been near a snake
 But ol' Clark, bein' born with luck
 Paid a fine o' just twenty bucks

 It's good for man or beast!
 You'll get immediate relief!
 Just 50 cents in stamps
 Gets rid of all those cramps!

 "It's good for everything a liniment ought to be good for!"
 CLARK STANLEY SNAKE OIL

 Two thousand and sixteen
 That Rihanna sure can sing
 But the nation has to face
 A presidential race
 On a platform over there
 Is a miracle cure for sale
 It'll fix the United States
 And it comes from ... RATTLESNAKES!

 It's good for man or beast!
 You'll get immediate relief!
 Just 50 cents in stamps
 Gets rid of all your cramps!

 "He's good for everything a president ought to be good for!"
 "She's good for everything a president ought to be good for!"
 "They're GOOD for EVERYTHING a GOVERNMENT OUGHT to be GOOD for..."

  CLARK STANLEY SNAKE OIL!!

[Movin Flavour]

Wow Paul,

This is amazing....love the video.


Great lyrics and those pianos....really cool.

Never be afraid to voice political opinions.....but you have been really balanced!

Love the Plaster


Sandeep

[johnlondon]

Hello Paul, had to log in to say how good this song is. From the intro to the outro and everything in between, excellent. High time you put out a best of, LP.

[boolio]

Hi, This kind of has the vibe of the travelling musicians (Nat King Cole & Stubby Kaye) in the movie 'Cat Ballou' Great video and performance.

...and I totally get where you're coming from...Stuck between a rock and a hard place with the Clinton/Trump thing. We've just had a 'damned if you do damned if you don't' vote over here.
Politics eh!!!

Keep up the great work

[diademgrove]

Hi Paul,

what a great way to start a wet Monday morning. Great song, great video. Pity Bernie didn't put his name on the ballot.

Keith

[Skub]

Yo Paul.

This is a clever piece of work on both the song and the tube flick. 

Where most politicos are concerned,I often feel I'm on a different planet and far from putting together anything lyrically coherent,I'm more inclined to spout inarticulate rage and frustration,neither of which ever gets a point across. 
You make your point admirably,with humour and creativity.

A great piece of work Paul. 

We have a book of rags with the pic of Scott Joplin on the cover,same as the one at the beginning of your vid. Love me some rags.

[rightly]

you're a force o' nature
very well done!

I got some laughs out of it!

keep 'em Paul.

[Neil C]

Paul, really looking forward to this and it more than met my expectation.
 Love the piano ( or Joanna ) and your ragtimeness and the vocal and 3 part harmonies. I shut my eyes and loved the story and your performance.
Great

Neil

[Paulski]

Cheers for commenting guys

@Movin Flavour - thanks Sandeep for the kind remarks. Don't often get a chance to record stride piano so it was fun to do.

@johnlondon - cheers John! I've got lots of material for a "worst of" album maybe I'll do that one first

@boolio thank you kind sir. Yeah politics is such a media circus these days - good fodder for songs though

@diademgrove - much appreciate the nice comments Keith. Yeah I think the bern would have cleaned up.

@Skub - cheers for the encouragement skub. I loved playing his rags when I was a teenager. Only my family heard 'em though - it was way not cool compared to Hendrix !

@Rightly - glad you saw some humour - thanks for watching and commenting!

@Neil C - glad it didn't fall short - thanks for the kind review. BTW - that's a free upright plug-in. I tried my easykeys grand but you can't/shouldn't play stride on a grand - it just ain't rat

[tina m]

i dont feel qulaified to comment on this as i know nothing about this sort of music or american politics
but it certainly sounds fabulousl ... a lovingly done sort of homage to that eras music
& i think a lot of the medicines we take nowadays only work bcos we believe they will
& when we dont believe they work we spend a fortune in the health food shop buying natural potions that we think are better..anyway i do get the clever double meaning in the lyrics
great piano playing & singing paul
doh i forgot to watch the video... i was reading the lyrics!
hey arent you canadian? do you have the same president as the united states?

[IronKnee]

Wow, Paul...you really have out done yourself with this one.
Super entertaining.....super funny.
Loved it!
Thanks.........
                                -Tom

I especially loved the piano playing.......nice trick!
Good playing!

[Neil C]

Paul, what was the upright free vst plugin? My piano ones aren't great, and it's not helped by having a non weighted keyboard - must fix that, and decades of neglect!!
 
Neil

[pompeyjazz]

This is great stuff Paul. The lyrics are excellent and really made me laugh. I love the ragtime piano and your crazy harmonies especially towards the end. This is very creative. I love the way that you can swap styles and I never know what to expect from you 

[PaulAds]

Ha!

Great stuff Paul...loved the video too...nice work.

Your ability to make me smile at the impending global disaster was a quite remarkable feat.

I can't imagine a more terrifying choice...they are somehow each worse than the other.

[shadowfax]

Very clever piece of work...exceptional actually,..way above any crits from me..