Music Maestro, Please

Today was Don's presentation at the St Fillans Music Circle. He began his program (entitled "Beauty and the Beat" [and that's not a typo]) with a song (see photo). Here are the lyrics:

Odyssey of a Drummer Boy (with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan)

When I was a lad of thirteen years
I was not geared like any of my peers
While other kids played ball with chums
All I really wanted was to play the drums.
Yes, all he really wanted was to play the drums.
But I had no set of drums you see
So I was always beating time upon my knee
His feet and hands moved rhythmically
But he had to be contented beating on his knee.

My folks did not know what to think
Of my bizarre behavior, they could only blink
And ask themselves just why their son
Was totally besotted with this obsession.
They were totally bewildered by their obsessed son.
Oh, what a great catastrophe!
He's a candidate for juvenile delinquency.
A no good, vagrant, bum he'll be
Living in a sewer beating on his knee.

I gave in to my parents' pleas
And fin'ly gave up beating rhythm on my knees.
I switched to table tops and chairs
And banged until our furniture required repairs
The cushions on the ottoman became threadbare.
Then I found one day that pots and pans
Would make a lovely noise when beat with spoons in hands
He banged all day with spoons in hands
And mutilated all his mother's pots and pans

It was the final straw you see
And that is when dear mummy had a talk with me
To my obsession she'd succumb
To save her kitchenware she cried, "Go buy a drum!"
She'd had it up to here and shouted, "Buy a drum!"
"Now get thee to a music store!
And beat upon my precious pots and pans no more!"
He ran right out the kitchen door
And bought himself a drum kit from the music store.

As years went buy I learned to play
From records made by drummers of a bygone day
I'd play for hours and loved to swing
With snares and bass and cymbals and the whole darn thing
He played with bass and cymbals and the whole darn thing
And so my friends you'll plainly see
Rhythm is essentially the heart of me.
It's plain for one and all to see
This lad has always worn his heart upon his knee.

The crowd loved it! It was great to see him up there performing again because it's been quite a while. The rest of the program was varied and most interesting, consisting of many performances or versions of familiar pieces that the audience hadn't heard before.

He received lots of warm applause at the end and has been asked to do a smaller programme for the Circle's Holiday Party. Afterward, he was surrounded for some time by people telling him how much they enjoyed the afternoon. It was a joyful time!