From the recording THE MARIONETTE: This & That from Hither & Yon
This tune was commissioned by The Skinny Improv for the occasion of its founder, Jeff Jenkins’, birthday. I wanted something featuring an epic folk hero... because that’s what he seemed to me. Something that reeked of a spaghetti western, dripping with cheese! Something larger than life, and damned silly. Something befitting a man of such peerless comedic talent. A true master of his craft, I liken him to Robin Williams. Like Williams, Jeff’s mind moves at light speed, anchored to nothing but the moment, and dedicated only to the laughter of his audience. A true artist in every way.
Lyrics
Some men toil for riches
Some men shoot for stars
Some men walk a path less wandered
To find out who they are
Some take all that they can carry
Some pack only what they need
Some streak through life like lightning bolts
Some at merely mortal speeds
And some men find contentment
Some never fill that need
But one, for certain, lay down his burden
To plant a single seed
This is the ballad of a man called Jenx, Papa of the Improv
Creator of the Skinny Little Theater that we all love
I got my facts from tabloid headlines
Confirmed by French-born pantomimes
I swear to you what follows ain’t just fluff
It’s the stuff of legend, the stuff of songs
The stuff you can’t wash out of thongs
So gather near me young and old, come hear my tale unfold
But be warned ‘cause it ain’t fit for the faint of heart
Nor the hard of hearing!
In the streets of Dallas, sunburnt and calloused
Were we lay our fair scene down
A hero finds his feet and half-eaten nachos
Still face-up, there on the ground
Which he ate without a plate
As the Starving Arts school dictates
But he fell in love right then and there
With that spicy Mexicali fare
And the boy became a man the old folks say
The show must go on! The show must go on!
The stage is set, the lights are on!
He’ll make it up when he goes on
The man called Jenx
So he left those dusty streets behind
For a path with no rewind
And if my tale of woe was a moving picture show
A montage would surely save some time
As he makes his way across the map
Learning this and teaching that
Expanding his horizons
In the field of improvising
A prize he’d had his eyes on since his youth
The show must go on! The show must go on!
The die is cast, the cast has died
A hunger’s welling up inside
The man called Jenx
So he whet his wit upon the stone
He honed his gift, got ripped and toned
Though he was prone to seek fajita beef
Mixed with sauce, beans, and cheese
The Achilles Heel of the yet un-beat
Man called Jenx
So he carried on though the road was long
And lonesome as a train
Until he came upon a field of springs
A sight he’d never seen
With a shriek of joy, he bounded in
And he bounced upon them gaily
The lift those silver coils supplied
Made him feel alive inside
So he settled down, made Springfield town his home
The show must go on! The show must go on!
The lights are on but no one’s home
‘Cause there’s a new place making queso down the road
For the man called Jenx
Music & Lyrics by David Greathouse
© 2012, Sourdough Music, ASCAP