You Can't Keep Me From Singing
by Gordon MacDonald, Jr.


My life flows on, but something's wrong--
I'm caught in consternation;
Whenever I begin to sing there's rising agitation.
My singing voice was not my choice,
Fate brought it sweetly winging,
Since Fate's to blame, I now proclaim:
you can't keep me from singing!

My voice is hoarse, but then, of course,
a sweet smooth voice is boring.
And if a song be sad or long, I pep it up by roaring!
To sing on pitch is something which
was not in my upbringing;
To sing off-key sounds fine to me,
you can't keep me from singing!

If I sing just right I can incite
a peaceful group to riot
Or offer me a handsome fee if only I'll be quiet!
But I don't bargain with a mob,
though tar and feathers they're bringing,
Put down that noose and turn me loose
you can't keep me from singing!

The birds have fled my neighborhood,
their tiny eardrms shattered;
My neighbours, too, have said, "Adieu!",
but it hasn't really mattered.
My daily mail brings threats of death
and curses coarse and stinging,
I heed them not they're a tin-eared lot
and they can't keep me from singing!

Each living thing its song must sing,
life sings to life in chorus;
Our song brings courage when we do not
know what lies before us.
Our songs of freedom, love and hope
down through the ages ringing--
Cold Death defy and that is why
you can't keep me from singing!


(Dedicated to those of us who cannot sing but do anyway.)

No rights reserved. Lyrics may be reproduced on the side of a
building, on novelty toilet paper or on any reasonably flat surface in
between without compensationto the author; just sing the bloody song
and get on with it.


Chi's note: I am one of those song-challenged people, but have learned to sing only when in isolation. I well recall the day in early spring following an awful frozen winter in Philadelphia when I tenderly carried home a new plant just beginning to bud! I followed all the care instruction. I would have my own bit of spring color! The instructions included a paragraph about how plants responded to music and song; so naturally, wanting only the best for my new baby, I sang to it. The next morning it was DEAD! I have never sung to a plant or other living thing since. Here is one person you CAN keep from singing! And a free-thinking Unitarian at that!