SONG OF THE TYRANTS

A writer of note once remarked in a quote
In a book which I lately re-read,
How his work went to waste on a mob lacking taste:
"You starve us. You starve us," he said.
For it seems all this time we'd committed the crime
Most heinous in everyone's sight,
Of wanting to read what we wanted to read
And not what he wanted to write.
CHORUS
We wanted to read what we wanted to read
And not what he wanted to write.

Then my thoughts turned at whim to my old Uncle Jim
A storekeeper of local repute
Who dumped all his stocks of men's trousers and socks
And stocked up on old tea leaves and soot.
To this day he can't guess, though it gives him distress,
The reason his sales went to hell:
We wanted to buy what we wanted to buy
And not what he wanted to sell.
CHORUS
We wanted to buy what we wanted to buy
And not what he wanted to sell.

Then I thought for the nonce about M. Alphonse,
The award-winning chef de cuisine,
Who decided one day that food was passe
And served up a scrap metal terrine.
He was fired on the spot and he howled "It's a plot!"
So we tried to explain--we said "Look,
We wanted to eat what we wanted to eat
And not what you wanted to cook."
CHORUS
We wanted to eat what we wanted to eat
And not what he wanted to cook.

(Instrumental, inc. bergomask dance by memebers of the company)

Oh you writers, beware, and, since I must be fair,
Oh you artists and architects too.
Let your muse guide you on, but remember anon,
In the long run it's we who pays you.
Innovation is ace in its time and its place
But the public will always backslide
Into wanting to want what we wanted to want
Not what you may want to provide.

So in every new job, stay in touch with "the mob",
Don't leave us behind in your flight,
And you'll find that we'll read what you want us to read
When you write what we want you to write.
CHORUS
You'll find that we'll read what you want us to read
When you write what we want you to write!