Ballad of the Ballot
by Lincoln Spector

Tune: Hotel California

On a dark desert highway,
Cool wind in my hair,
Warm smell of pollution,
Not a tire to spare.
Up ahead in the distance,
A man appeared with no shame,
He stuck some paper and a pen in my hand,
Said “Can you please sign your name?”
Said “The state, it needs action,”
Said “It’s wasting away,”
Said “If we don’t make a change
“Then we’ll be stuck with this Gov’nor called Gray”
Then he grabbed the petition
And he danced like a king,
I hit the gas but as I drove that car away
I thought I heard him sing

Welcome to the Recall California
Anyone can run
Anyone can run (background)
Movie star or nun
No kind of sense at the Recall California
On the ballot, live,
On the ballot, live, (background)
Hundred thirty-five

First there’s Governor Davis,
Twice he won for our sins;
He must capture more than half of the votes,
Or the runner-up wins.
And that just might be Arnold,
Yes, there are enough fools,
Makes movies where he blows thing up--
What will he do to our schools?
So I asked everybody
How’d we get in this fix?
They said
“We haven't had a movie star win since 1966.”
And still those people are laughing from far away,
New York, London, even Timbuktu,
You can hear them say

Welcome to the Recall California
Anyone can run
Anyone can run (background)
Movie star or nun
Tearin’ it down at the Recall California
Just to give a hint
Just to give a hint  (background)
We got Larry Flynt

Millions for elections,
Teachers on their butts.
They say we are all just prisoners here
Of the taxes we cut.
And in the master's chambers
They carve into the plate;
They stab it with their reddish ink
But they just can't kill the state.
I dropped onto my knees and
I asked how much this cost.
They said it didn’t matter what the price
Just so long as the people have lost.
“Relax” said the pollster,
“Just you take it with a grin,
“You can vote for anyone you like,
“But you can never win.”

Copyright © 2003 by Lincoln Spector