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Saturday, February 07, 2009

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES


Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was a virgin in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

3 comments:

  1. You got to love the good ole days.
    That was when everyone was prosperous and free. And the government didn't try to run every part of your life. Back in the day that was cslled Communism when the government ran everything. Now it seems to be what all ignorant Americans want. Is it just because they are to lazy to work? We all cannot get handouts from the government. The money has to come from somewhere. You guessed it, its called TAXES. So the defecit is is so high now it will be paid by US, OUR CHILDREN, OUR GRAND CHILDREN AND OUR GREAT GRAND CHILDREN. And that is just if it doesn't go up anymore. Wake up people LESS GOVERMENT NOT MORE.

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  2. Yes, Eisenhower had integrity,loyalty,and forward thinking. Politicians have slowly and systematically drifted towards the current worthless decisions since that era. My grands enjoy all the wonderful accounts of my childhood. My family, friends and neighbors wouldn't leave perpetual generational debt. The United States of America had Integrity, Loyalty, and Forward Thinking when I was a Most fortunate Child!

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  3. Anyone needing a blast from the past needs to go to Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore. It is located right by Camden Yards in the same building that houses the MD Sports Legends Museum. Is this the old Pratt St. Station? Anyway it is chock a block with old toys-Captain America, Little Orphan Annie, Tom Mix, Howdy Doodie, Mickey Mouse, Popeye, etc-from the mid 1800s thru today, many of which are great representations of our popluar culture. IT is not to be missed!!!

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