Betsy Devine: Funny ha-ha and/or funny peculiar

If a song is playing and re-playing in your head, is it immoral to sing it for somebody else? Is it still immoral if you like the song replaying in your head?

OK, probably immoral, but here are my excuses for singing “Off to Massachusetts”* for Dave Winer’s podcast yesterday:

• Few people know so many rhymes for Massachusetts.
• When Dave’s winding road bends again toward Cambridge, this silly song could be a kind of anthem
• I got this CD as free blog-booty from the Little Women showfolk.
• It’s just the kind of song you feel like singing to serenade your scrambled eggs in any random hotel breakfast room.

Are songs contagious just from the lyrics alone? If you dare, read on for a small sample…

If you say “Come with me,
off to Massachusetts,”
Then to Massachusetts we will go
We will buy dishes there, maybe even two sets,
Buy the finest china then we’ll dine a while on Crepes Suzettes…

We will build model boats,
off in Massachusetts,
There in Massachusetts,
By the bay.
Put them together and
Wait until the glue sets
While we wait we’ll polka
For the folk along the parapets…

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* “Off to Massachusetts” is a duet for Beth and Mr. March in Little Women: The Musical — You can play a small sample from
the Amazon page for the Little Women CD Amazon’s sample will give you a much better idea than my acappella rendition for Dave, but it’s also more likely to get stuck inside your own head.

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