Category: Listen

Overheard conversations and Main Street vs Super Wal*Mart

Right now I’m sitting in the car dealership just down the road waiting for my car to be worked on and just finished listening to two women talking all about the shopping in Ellsworth (as well as their chronic gambling problems, ex-husbands, how scary the internet (‘they have maps to my house!’) is and various medical problems they really shouldn’t be sharing in public). I’ve even posted before about folks I’ve overheard here in the past, I swear they should mic & tape this place and make a reality show,

One of the topics they went on and on about was the new ‘Super-Wal Mart’ that opened here in Ellsworth last week. I haven’t been in it yet though ‘coincedentally’ the town decided to rip up the road that allowed me to avoid even driving by it so I’ve had to deal with all the traffic it’s generated.

Every time I drive by this new Wal Mart, I hear this David Mallet song playing in my head, especially “They got records and rugs, groceries and drugs, On acres of cold concrete floor, And when I walked in my head started to spin, I forgot what I came in for”

http://www.davidmallett.com/mainstreet.html

Main Street

There’s a new super store on the outside of town
It’s the very first thing that you see
The people are coming from miles around
‘Cause the merchants on Main can’t compete

They got records and rugs, groceries and drugs
On acres of cold concrete floor
And when I walked in my head started to spin
I forgot what I came in for

And I miss Main Street
Where everyone knew you by name
I miss Main Street
My, how this little town’s changed

There’s no stopping it, I guess
It’s all part of progress
Trading the old for the new
I miss Main Street
What in the world is this world comin’ to

Now, the old movie house is all boarded up
Just waitin’ to be torn down
Between the new mall and that damn wrecking ball
They are making short work of my town

Folks these days just spend their pay
In a discount atmosphere
And nobody knows where the money all goes
But none of it stays around here

And I miss Main Street
Where you knew everybody by name
I miss Main Street
My, how this little town’s changed
There’s no stopping it, I guess

It’s all part of progress
Trading the old for the new
I miss Main Street
What in the world is this world comin’ to

I used to love this town
When I was just a kid
If only you could see it now
The way that I once did

And I miss Main Street
Where everyone knew you by name
I miss Main Street
My, how this little town’s changed

There’s no stopping it, I guess
It’s all part of progress
Trading the old for the new
I miss Main Street
What in the world is this world comin’ to

Knick Knack Shelf – by David Wilcox

Years ago I found someone giving away some David Wilcox ‘bootleg’ recordings and one of them included him doing the following poem. I can’t find the recording (cassette) anymore but I did find these lyrics and wanted to post them here.

Knick-Knack Shelf

Written and performed by David Wilcox (http://www.davidwilcox.com/)

Unreleased

The man with the knick-knack shelf turned from the wall
And he smiled to himself as he picked up the maul
He emptied the knick-knackage into the trash
And steadied the sacrifice, ready to smash

Down comes the axe-blade , down through the knicker-knack
Down to the tongue-in-groove flooring below
He picks up the pieces of splinters and kindling
And into the fireplace all of it goes

He says he knows what he’s doing; he’s done it before
He can keep the place warm for eight hours or more
He’s still got the shutters and cabinet doors
And they’ll always be plenty of tongue-in-groove floors

Down comes the banister, down from the second floor
Down to the fireplace , thunk! thunk! thunk!
He says , “Plenty of firewood; look at this banister
It’s an all-night fire here in one big chunk

Hey what do you mean ‘tomorrow’ ? Tomorrow’s another day
I’m sure that when tomorrow comes, we’ll f ind some other way”
Yeah, but back in the early days, the pickings were good
He burned all the kitchen stuff made out of wood

The baskets and bread boards and the beautiful bowls
And the wall-mounted hanger for paper towel rolls
Down came the knife rack, down came the toaster shelf
Down to the bare bones , burnables gone

Oh, but plenty of plastic and metal utensils
Never you worry there’s anything wrong
Hey what do you mean “tomorrow” ? Tomorrow’s another day
I’m sure that when tomorrow comes , we’ll f ind some other way

Yeah, but there used to be furniture, tables and chairs
But the man burned them up when the kitchen was bare
Then came the time when the only thing there
Was his very own personal lazy boy chair

Well up jumped the lazy boy and fired up the chain saw
Cut through the naugahide down to the frame
He severed the beast like a primitive butcher
Threw all the burnables onto the flame

Down came the curtain rods, down came the picture frames
Down came the macrame, plants and ferns
Into the fireplace, he’ll try anything
Maybe the parakeet cage will burn

Yeah, but that’s when he sighed and he gazed about
And feeling the air was a wee bit chill
That’s when he saw the knick-knack shelf
He said, “I knew there’s a way , if we had the will”

Well don’t try to tell him we’re heading for ruin
He’s older than you; he knows what he’s doing
There’s always been plenty of firewood before
There’s bound to be places to find even more

Hey what do you mean “tomorrow” ? Tomorrow’s another day
I’m sure that when–
Don’ try to tell him he’s heading for ruin
He’s older than you; he knows what he’s doing
I’m sure that when tomorrow comes, we’ll find some other way
Right ?