2004 June 5:
THE CHATTERING CLASSES
or: the Whine-and-Cheese Stand-Around Lament
tune: The Wagoner’s Lad
The chattering classes in the party room stand;
they munch on canapés with wine glass in hand,
talk of who’s got a grant and who’s sleeping with whom,
and what stark new scenario portends the world’s doom:
The planet is warming – or has it turned cold?
tech is out of control – or is progress on hold?
there are too many people – or not quite enough;
and however you paint it, the picture looks rough.
Woes real and imaged they bewail without end;
they don’t know how much works, but they’re sure how to mend.
And how strangely it happens their cares all inflate
the take of the taxman, and the power of the state.
If I built me a starship and sailed the deep blue,
and I found a new species much like me and you,
though their skins were pale green and their cocktails pitch-black –
would their chatter drive me crazy, make me want to sail back?
copyright © Eric Layman 2004
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