The Martian of the Swamp Country
Harry Smothers
(Tune: "Girl of the North Country" by Bob Dylan)
If you're goin' to the Michigan swamps
Where the UFO's fly 'cross the line
Say hello to a Martian I once knew
It once was a good friend of mine
The Air Force said that I'd just seen "swamp gas"
An' they implied that I was nuts, or lyin'.
But if gas is solid, it still don't shake your hand.
An' it once was a good friend of mine.
If you're goin' to the Michigan swamps
Where such strange sights the folk are spyin' --
Four legs in front; in the rear, it had two,
An' it once was a good friend of mine.
If you get out of this old Metro State
Where they put folks who've lost their mind
Wont'cha visit this Martian that I knew
'Cuz it once was a good friend of mine.
If you're goin' to the Michigan swamps
Whence come the stories no one's buyin' --
One eye was orange, the other two was blue,
An' it once was a good friend of mine.
If I get out of this hospital, too,
Where all we do is sit and waste our time,
I'll come on out to see both it and you
F'r it once was a good friend of mine.
If you're goin' to the Michigan swamps
Where the UFO's fly cross the line,
Say hello to a Martian I once knew.
It once was a good friend of mine.
Written 1969, 1973 by Gerald L. Bliss
[Historical notes: I was born and raised in Norwalk, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. The hospital referred to, Metropolitan State Hospital, flanked my neighborhood on two sides, which is where I got my sense of bedlam. Also, I wrote this song 23 years (a good number) before moving to Michigan, something I never dreamed of doing - Michigan just fit the scansion and had lots of water...]
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