I've always loved the song "Last Thing on my Mind", written by Tom Paxton, and performed/recorded by many others.  I think Dolly Parton did a rather glossy version of it some time ago.  My favorite rendition is by Tony Rice on the Church Street Blues album (get this one...it's Tony doing acoustic folk songs all solo for the most part, not his usual bluegrass/jazz stuff.  Superb renditions of many old folk favorites).   Anyways, the point of this rant is that I tried recording it myself, with my own arrangement, and aside from some irritating flat notes in the vocal harmonies, the song did lend itself to yet another feel.  A great song, it seems, will sound great in many arrangements.

Well, I looked up ol' Tom, and sure enough he is out there recording, writing and performing.  Mid-Atlantic persons, know that he is playing the Birchmere in Alexandria sometime in the fall, and also Wolf Trap.  Tom wrote this piece, somewhat a propos to our current situation:

HOMELAND SECURITY
By Tom Paxton


I heard a noise this morning,
Seemed to come from my garage.
It sounded like some burglars,
Or some act of sabotage.
I barged on in and hit the lights,
And what do you think I see?
The Army, the Navy, and old Tom Ridge––
Here’s what they said to me:

“We’ve looked all over Baghdad,
We’ve looked all over Iraq,
For some kind of horrible weapons,
Just right for a sneak attack.
We’ve turned the damned place upside down;
We’ve done all we can do,
Now, the Army, the Navy and old Tom Ridge,
Have decided to pick on you.”

     Chorus:
     Homeland security!
     I feel safe. Don’t you?

They turned my poor house inside out.
They were still hard at it come dawn.
Then, here come a big jet airplane,
And it landed on my lawn.
Out popped ol’ George W.,
Crying, “Where can the weapons be?”
And the Army, the Navy and old Tom Ridge,
Were pointing their fingers at me. (To Chorus)

So, now I guess they’ve got me,
And now the jig is up.
That 50-lb. bag of grass seed
And that dog food for my pup,
Are clearly chemical weapons
And the headlines will agree,
That the Army, the Navy and old Tom Ridge
Have got the goods on me. (To Chorus)

©2003 Pax Music, ASCAP

Gene