The Hippos, "He Said" from Heads Are Gonna Roll (The Last Angry Man)
Skammentary: The Hippos are SKApril all-stars, but also one of the first bands to break up, back in those halcyon years after the Summer of Ska. They were also the first band I knew to abandon the ska sound in favor of New Wave synthesizers. (The Aquabats! would later follow this same route, though with greater perseverance.) Front man Ariel Rechtshaid has gone on to be a Grammy Award-winning producer of some truly wretched music, from the likes of Adele, Madonna, & Usher. Thus, the cautionary tale of "He Said":
"I said, 'Hey, mister, why do you look so blue?'
He said, 'It's nothing, you just look like someone I once knew,'
I said, 'O really?,' as I looked into his eyes,
Right then and there I knew this man would tell no lies.
He said:
"I am a man of glory,
I've got a million stories,
If you would just listen to me!
I've sailed across this ocean,
Given so much devotion,
But just one thing has stayed with me,
Come here and see.
"We'd find a park with flowers,
We'd sit and talk for hours,
He taught me ancient history.
He said:
I used to be a great man,
I traveled 'cross this great land,
Until an old man came to me
And said:
"I am a man of glory,
I've got a million stories,
If you would just listen to me!
I've been around the world,
Been with all kinds of girls,
But just one thing has stayed with me,
Come here and see.
"But now I am much older,
My life has grown much colder,
I only care about one thing!
How can I make more money?
Life's empty without money!
And then a voice spoke out to me,
And said:
"I am a man of glory,
I've got a million stories,
If you would just listen to me!
I used to be a rich man,
Money can ruin a good man,
Just look what it has done to me!…"
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