BlissNinnies Lyrics Page

The Clifford Story ( so far ... )
Clifford
Sunny Willow Oaks
The Walk
The Hat Song
Sparkle

(to be continued ...)

Clifford
Words and Music by Nick Chargin, Arranged by BlissNinnies
Copyright 2000 BlissNinnies Music All Rights Reserved

Clifford was an ordinary guy - he'd wake up every day
and go to work and punch a beat up time card with his name
He'd work a couple hours, drink some coffee, work a couple more,
eat tuna fish, then spend the next four hours in the game
His evening, as eventful, found him sitting with a swanson's
frozen dinner watching television, tray upon his lap
He'd vegetate and fall asleep not thinking of the media
or how it's little elves would find their way under his cap

But clifford woke one morning with a pain upon his head
It felt like someone drilled it out and filled it full of lead
He dragged his heels across the floor
and headed for the bathroom door
and looked into the mirror as his stomach filled with dread

My head has gotten smaller!
I'm sure that it has shrunk!
No wonder i have woken up
in such an awful funk
There's just no explanation
to explain how this could be
It's just my 'imagination
playing tricks on me

Clifford showered, ate his breakfast, headed out the door
He grabbed the hat that he had worn for many years before
A beat up tweed fedora with a feather in the band
He plopped it down upon his skull and tapped it with his hand

My head has gotten smaller!
This hat, it used to fit
but now it's big and floppy,
in fact it looks like...
There's no way this is normal
and perhaps i've lost my mind
but i'm sure my head was larger
when i looked at it last time

Clifford called his doctor to try and ease his mind
He asked if it was possible his head's the shrinking kind
The doctor only laughed at him and said "impossible..."
"Your hat has stretched and that is that - it couldn't be your skull"
His shrink said that his mom's controlling hand's what made him sick
His herbalist suggested some old root would do the trick
His preacher and his barber and his telepsychic, Ted
agreed that a new hat would be the best thing for his head

Clifford, being swayed by all the influence he'd seen
Decided that the old fedora didn't make the scene
"I guess that other people are the ones who know the best
I'll just ignore the thoughts I have and listen to the rest"

Sunny Willow Oaks
Words and Music by Nick Chargin, Arranged by BlissNinnies
Copyright 2000 BlissNinnies Music All Rights Reserved

Clifford had a grandma - his favorite one in fact
She had a stroke three years ago
that laid her on her back
And while she couldn't talk or move
and had no sense of sight
Clifford went to visit her
on every Tuesday night...

At the sunny willow oaks
country life retirement home
We'll take your excess baggage
and turn 'em into cabbage
At the sunny willow oaks
country life retirement home
They're old and in the way
so drop 'em off today

He'd hold her hand and chew her ear
And while he wasn't sure she'd hear
His words were never insincere
And neither was his touch
He'd use her as a sounding board
Since other folks could not afford
To waste their time on cliff's discord
On shrunken heads and such

But at the sunny willow oaks
country life retirement home
They take your excess baggage
and turn 'em into cabbage
At the sunny willow oaks
country life retirement home
They're old and in the way,
so drop 'em off today

Tonight was somehow different
Unlike the other visits spent
On tuesday nights when clifford went
To spew about his strife
He felt a certain energy
His grandma almost seemed to be
Communicating unconsciously
Advising on his life...

"Was sure that I was dead,
But now I realize
It's all within my head
Which is a normal size
I thought that it could be
A shrunken head, you see
But now i'm done with that,
So i guess i'll buy a hat..."

Then somewhere out of nowhere-land
Like a felon on a witness stand
Grandma shuddered, squeezed his hand
And tears rolled down her cheek
Clifford leaped from out his chair
And grabbed a nurse with bluish hair
"My grandma squeezed my hand in there,
Will you please come take a peek?"

"Don't raise your hope too quickly, son...
it's just a muscle spasm - some adverse reaction
We pumped her full of something new today
The old girl's going nowhere
she'll just lay here in a vegetative state
Now get your butt on out the door
'cause visitations end here at eight"

The Walk
Words and Music by Nick Chargin, Arranged by BlissNinnies
Copyright 2000 BlissNinnies Music All Rights Reserved

The Hat Song
Words and Music by Nick Chargin, Arranged by BlissNinnies
Copyright 2000 BlissNinnies Music All Rights Reserved

Come on in here son, set up and buy yourself a hat.
You know really do deserve to have a better one than that.
The beat-up tweed fadora look, it went out years ago,
A brand new brim is what you need and I've got lots to show.

Sombreros, Boomers, Beanies, even got a Fez or two
Then again it all depends on which is right for you.
A Baseball Cap is much too plain, I'm sure that you agree
A Cowboy hat ain't where its at - at least its not for me.
Imagine fur-lined hunting caps with ear flaps on the side,
Floppy, trippy Hippie hats of hand-stitched naugahide.
Perhaps a topless visor or a top hat fits the bill
Just take your time and look around, I'm sure that something will.
Don't bother much, you don't want to miss the bus.

The holidays are coming up, a stocking cap may do,
And if your mother's jewish, I've got yamacas here too.
You see we don't discriminate against your ethnic track,
I believe we got a tribal headress just somewhere in the back.
Remember Indiana Jones ? We got a hat like his.
Not sure what the style is called but you know what it is.
This sun hat made of straw that came from Panama is cool,
But wait a minute, here's a hat that's sure to make you drool.

This one cost a week's pay but you deserve it
wouldn't you say that a hat like this comes your way only once a lifetime ?
Put it on your head now, don't you worry, don't you fret.
With the Fez you'll reget. How could you settle for less ?

We can work a deal out at $500 its a steal
once out that door I know you'll feel out of your deepest problems.
We can work a trade-in I'll give $20 for your old brim-wear
What else could make you look hansom, make you money ?

And the sun shone down on Clifford that day
A Hat sent down from heaven seemed to wash his cares away.
And all the people that he knew said praises till they're face turned blue
We wouldn't say it if it weren't true, there's something different, something new.
Have you lost weight ? A brand new dew ?
That hat sure looks good on you.
Where can I get myself one too ?
I think I'll buy a hat !

It seems most the time that there's so little people say
What is it that's different to make them notice me today
Could it be the hat that I wear is what makes them feel this way

There's something different my friend, there's a sparkle in your eye
It seems just like yesterday you were ready to kiss the world good-bye
There's a spring in your step, seems you're singing
except that the tune that you've kept is in your stride

Why is it . . . , it seems no matter what the others do ?
In between all the patronizing praises dumped on you
Acceptance is just a facade if they haven't got a clue

And it's such a sweet illusion
Just an escape from all the confusion
Just accept all dimensions don't question intentions at all

In the end it don't matter, you can give up what you need
Sacrafice your existance just to follow someone's lead
But you still won't escape from the feeling that your head has atrophied

(to be continued . . . )