We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Music Library Blues

by David Michael King

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Purchasable with gift card

     

about

This parody of a music librarian’s troubles won the Blues Song Contest at the 2006 Music Library Association Annual Meeting in Memphis. In a parody, you can get more laughs by using the specialized vocabulary of your audience, but you may leave outsiders scratching their heads. In case you’re scratching your head, a “BWV” is catalog number for the music of Bach, “truncation” is a way to find alternate endings in a catalog, “RILM” is a database for music scholarship and an “OPAC” is a library’s Online Public Access Catalog.

lyrics

LYRICS

TO THE TUNE OF "HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN"
BY MUDDY WATERS.
NEW WORDS BY DAVID MICHAEL KING (c)2006

My friends studied business
Got science degrees
Livin’ in the suburbs
Pull down ninety G’s
I majored in music
Couldn’t find no career
And then I a got an MLS
The Master’s takes a year
And along with that, a thirty grand loan
Lord, my pay is kinda scary
I got The Music Library Blues

First, I spilled coffee
On an autographed score
Knocked a bunch of CDs
Right onto the floor
Director needs music
For Brahms and Debussy
And twenty scores by J.S. Bach
He’s got no BWV’s
And on top of that, the catalog is down
If I quit will I get severance
I got the Music Reference Blues

Now I taught ‘em truncation
Grove Online
RILM and OPAC
Then I assigned
“Describe this piece by Bach"
Student said “fugal”
“Where’d you find the answer?”
“I just looked it up on Google"
Teacher, when we eatin’ lunch?
Now my PowerPoint won’t function
I got the Library Instruction Blues

NEW VERSES WRITTEN
AFTER THE SONG WAS RECORDED

She wanted quartets
I gave her Borodin
Grieg and Beethoven
Opus 18
All the scores she wanted
I was feeling rather pleased
She just frowned and then she said
“I wanted CDs
The Super Audio kind”
Lord, send me back to school
I got the Reference Interview Blues

First we stream music
Stopped buying CDs
We got JSTOR
No more magazines
Send movies online
Out of thin air
Digitize books
The shelves are bare
I’m a virtual librarian
From my head to my toes
In a virtual library
Our building has closed
All these computers
Have really paid off
The boss tells me with just one click
“You’re virtually laid off
We are cutting…edge”
I feel so antiquarian
I got the Disappearin’ Librian Blues.

credits

released February 15, 2006
Performed by Michelle Hammond and the MLA Big Band
Music Library Association Annual Meeting
Memphis, TN February 2006

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

David Michael King image

David Michael King Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

David Michael King wrote music and lyrics for two 15-minute musicals: "Take Me," with book by Maureen McGranaghan and "One Night," with book by Zhiwei Ma. He has had musical theater pieces performed in Hot Metal Musicals. His singer-songwriter tunes can be heard on "Love and Other Punchlines" and other recordings. Performances include playing with Pete Seeger and opening for The Subdudes. ... more

contact / help

Contact David Michael King

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like David Michael King, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now