Driving down the 405 freeway in LA one time I saw a billboard that I’ll never forget. It was advertising a Scion XB. The car had flames painted on it and was lowered to the ground. The words under the car read “So wrong for so many” . It was so clever. It was a battle cry for everyone out there who feels “different”

I drove to and from Idaho to Southern California 7 times last year. It is an extremely long drive (17 hours). I was in charge of driving and not going to sleep. Everyone else was in charge of going to sleep. I’ve posted about these drives here.

I have a massive music collection and this was my chance to listen to my music through the sweetness of noise canceling headphones. I listened to a variety of stuff but at 3AM when things got boring I’d turn to my favorite album of unusual music…

William Shatner’s album Has Been. It’s like the Scion XB, so wrong for so many.

Todays post is a cut from that album. I have included a poll below for you to respond to. Is it wrong for you?

Ladies and Gentlemen let me present William Shatner and Joe Jackson in Common People

She came from Greece,
she had a thirst for knowledge.
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin’s College.
That’s where I caught her eye.

She told me that her Dad was loaded.
I said, in that case I’ll have a rum and coca-cola.
She said fine, and in thirty seconds time she said,

I want to live like common people.
I want to do whatever common people do.
I want to sleep with common people.
I want to sleep with common people, like you.

Well, what else could I do?
I said, I’ll see what I can do.

I took her to a supermarket.
I don’t know why, but I had to
start it somewhere, so it started there.

I said, pretend you’ve got no money.
She just laughed, and said
oh you’re so funny. I said, yeah?
Well, I can’t see anyone else smiling in here.

Are you sure you want to live like common people?
You want to see whatever common people see?
You want to sleep with common people?
You want to sleep with common people, like me?
But, she didn’t understand,

[Jackson]
She just smiled and held my hand.

Rent a flat above a shop.
Cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool.
Pretend you never went to school.

But still, you’ll never get it right.
When you’re lying in bed at night
watching roaches climb the wall,
if you called your Dad he could stop it all.
Yeah.

[Shatner]
You’ll never live like common people
You’ll never do whatever common people do.
You’ll never fail like common people.
You’ll never watch your life slide out of view,
and dance and drink and screw

[Jackson and Shatner]
because there’s nothing else to do.

[Shatner and Chorus]
Sing along with the common people.
Sing along, and it might just get you thru.’

[Chorus]
Laugh along with the common people.

[Shatner and Chorus]
Laugh along, even though they’re laughing at you

[Shatner]
and the stupid things that you do
’cause you think that poor is cool.

[Jackson]
Like a dog lying in a corner,
they’ll bite you and never warn you.
Look out.

[Shatner]
They’ll tear your insides out
’cause everybody hates a tourist.

[Jackson]
‘Cause Everybody hates a tourist,
especially one who thinks
it’s all such a laugh.

[Shatner]
Yeah, and the chip stains’ grease
will come out in the bath.

[Shatner and Jackson]
You will never understand
how it feels to live your life
with no meaning or control
and with nowhere left to go.

You’re amazed that they exist
and they burn so bright,
while you can only wonder why.

Rent a flat above a shop.
Cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool.
Pretend you never went to school.

But still, you’ll never get it right.
‘Cause When you’re lying in bed at night

[Shatner]
watching roaches climb the wall,
if you called your Dad he could stop it all.
Yeah.

You’ll never live like common people

[Shatner and Jackson]
You’ll never do what common people do.
You’ll never fail like common people.
You’ll never watch your life slide out of view
and dance and drink and screw
because there’s nothing else to do.

[Chorus]
I want to sing with common people, like you.
I want to sing with common people, like you.
I want to sing with common people, like you.