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Mr. Tampering ManCopyright © 2006 Ken Ficara
Ken Ficara: Vocals, guitar, Dylanesque harmonica
Produced by Ken Ficara
Recorded on Park Place
Hey Mr. Tampering Man, write a song for me
I'm not picky and I don't care if it's stolen
Hey Mr. Tampering Man, write a song for me
In the Rolling Stolen record reviews, all is forgiven.
We might hear lines and lyrics
That we know aren't yours
Music you haven't paid for
Riffs we've heard before
Taken though we know you won't be crediting
Yes and if we hear vague traces of other people's songs
We'll just keep singing along
When you do it, it's not wrong
After all you're part of the folk tradition
Hey Mr. Tampering Man write a song for me
Don't be sleazy, give credit where it's owing to
Hey Mr. Tampering Man, write a song for me
Your swindling mangling of copyright
Makes us ashamed of you
Though your music empire makes millions every year
More than Muddy's whole career
Your admiration seems sincere
But you took his song without a worry
Your thievery amazes me
I'm saddened and I'm angry
You didn't pay him any fees
Just took the song for free
You can't even be bothered to say you're sorry
Hey Mr. Tampering man, write a song for me
Write something new, not something borrowed from the blues
Hey Mr. Tampering man, write a song for me
Through every single tangle of your career we've followed you
Though we know you've borrowed before
We object to your tampering this time
To your plagiarizing rhymes
Did you think we wouldn't pay it any mind
These ancient empty riffs too dead for hearing?
Has your writing like your singing returned into sand?
Vanished from your hand?
Left us blindly here to stand and still not cheering?
Dedicated to Bob, with years of love and admiration, but in hopes of better albums than Modern Times