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    "The Shoe Song_copy"genre: Folk
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    My attempt to purge my anglo-western yuppie guilt after visiting a dirt-poor 3rd world country (Nepal). We were hiking at 16,000 feet and had hired a porter to carry our gear for us. We paid Jangbo $6 per day to carry 40 kilos of stuff. Meanwhile, we were probably wearing the equivalent of the annual GDP of Nepal in new Goretex, fleece, polypro, hiking boots, and other high-tech crap. Our over-abundant goodwill really hit me when I noticed (as I was gasping for air on the side of the trail in the brain-bustingly thin air) that Jangbo had only flip-flops, shorts, and a t-shirt on (and was smoking a no-filter cigarette, just to rub it in). Guilt, nothing like it. Then I went home and found about 20 old pairs of shoes in my closet that I had been meaning to throw out, and I felt even more guilty. So I wrote this song, hoping to make some money off
    CD: on the new Pat Burtis release, due fall 2001   Label: self-released
    Credits: Words and music by Pat Burtis (c) 2000

    Story Behind the Song
    See song description for the motivation.
    We recorded this live at Johnny D's in Somerville, MA on January 20, 2000.
    I sang it and played the guitar. Shane McLaughlin was on the keyboards. Tim Kelly on bass. And Dave Franz was on the drums.
    Recorded and mixed by the guys from Wellspring Sound.

    Lyrics
    The Shoe Song
    Pat Burtis © 1998

    Well I been to the mountains of eastern Nepal
    Hired a four-foot man and made him carry it all
    Then we hiked up high where the peaks grow so tall

    So I'm standing in the trail wrapped in poly-pro and fleece
    Got my hundred-dollar shades and a perfect set of teeth
    And I notice that my porter has nothing on his feet

    Well I'm a man who believes in equity
    In inalienable rights, and basic goods for free
    In the right to own at least one piece of two-ply, Gore-Tex outer-ware by Patagucci

    So I'm looking at his feet, I think of all I take for granted
    Of Nikes, McDonald's, and the right to sue, dammit
    And I feel like the biggest yuppie scum on the face of the planet

    Chorus
    'Cause I got my light hikers, mountain bikers, heavy hikers, soccer strikers
    Rubber slickers, shit kickers, silky socks and Birkenstocks
    And flip flops and high tops and downhill boots and shoes for suits
    And Tom McCanns and Tevas and bowlers and bucs

    Got more laces and tongues than any man oughta
    Got more heels and treads than the ocean got water
    I think we oughta walk barefoot in the snow for a day

    Well they say that worldly goods can't get you to Nirvana
    But I've come pretty close with a Porsche and a sauna
    But since I was in the neighborhood I figured I would check in with my old friend
    the Dalai Lama

    Well that wise old Dalai Lama he's a pretty cool guy
    Didn't make me feel guilty, didn't even ask why
    Just pulled back his robes, showed me his new Air Jordans, and said: "These are totally
    fly, dude!"

    And we sangā€¦
    [Chorus]
    Got 'em under my bed and up in the attic
    Makes me feel kind of guilty, makes me feel hypocratic
    I think we oughta walk barefoot in the snow for a day

    But I've been making light of a pretty big deal
    Made fun of the Dalai Lama and his holy sacred wheel
    I even tried to make you laugh when I'm supposed to make you feel really bad
    So here comes the part where I make you feel guilty
    Passive aggressively

    'Cause I been to the slums of Kuala Lumpur
    To the lows of India, through the mud of Ecuador
    I been to Alabama, it's all the same as before

    'Cause the haves still have, and the don'ts still don't
    And the people with the most to give still won't
    So lets remember that we are all in the same big boat

    But in the meantimeā€¦ [Chorus to end]

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