1. |
Doctor B
03:09
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a stack of papers on air force one
a first lady catching up on her day job
grading homework for a friday class
after thursday dinner with the turkish diplomat
still doing the thing that she loves best
we can breathe easy knowing doctor B is gonna be first lady
what a relief knowing that doctor B is living in that house
steady at the helm, finally tell myself
i can breathe easy
dedication to a worthy cause
doesnt stop just because your man got a new job
she’s a teacher and an optimist
and we need all the inspiration that she can give
gaining forward motion once again
we can breathe easy knowing doctor B is gonna be first lady
what a relief knowing that doctor B is living in that house
steady at the helm, finally tell myself
i can breathe easy
what do you when youre an introvert
married to the most powerful man on earth?
how do you balance that responsibility?
that’s a lesson doctor biden will teach
we can breathe easy knowing doctor B is gonna be first lady
what a relief knowing that doctor B is living in that house
someone who cares about helping someone else
somebody decent/peaceful
we can breathe easy knowing doctor B is gonna be first lady
what a relief knowing that doctor B is living in that house
steady at the helm, finally tell myself
i can breathe easy
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2. |
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A little old woman in a puffy dress
She lives on in portraits and paragraphs on wikipedia
But you should know Martha,
She was more than just the first First Lady that there ever was
she had two kids and got rich before she met george Washington
She left a good impression everywhere she went
and she stood by the side of her man, even in the war
But she burned every letter that he ever sent her
She left nothing behind, for historians
Photographic images did not exist yet, obviously
Do me a favor, when you think of her,
Don’t picture the elderly
Imagine a young girl, light on her feet,
In a different century
we should all think of her differently
not like she was 63
She was a young girl, pretty and sweet
Before she turned to history
the thing about martha, she didnt ask for this
there wasn’t any precedent
she did her part to set the tone for everybody after them,
sooner or later, if we get it right,
we’ll remember her entirely
she lived a big life, obviously
before then she turned to history
she was a young girl light on her feet
before she turned to history
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3. |
Almost
03:10
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rachel bought a satin dress and kept it fresh
she was going to show it off in washington
oh but on christmas eve her heart gave out
she died before she (would’ve) got her crown
when the general got sworn in
he was still a grieving man
a brand new/hero president
wearing a black arm band
with her portrait hanging around his neck
(still) kept her so close
miss jackson never had a chance
but very nearly almost, almost
rachel really loved her home in tennessee
surrounded by flowers faith/friends and family
she married an ambitious man with bigger plans
(soon) she was gonna have to leave all that//
the skeletons from her past
dug up as front page news
gossip behind her back
the spark that tripped the fuse
the general swore revenge
he hid in his White House room
with her picture/portrait hanging around his neck
sad end of a true romance
almost, almost
rachel finally had a chance to wear that dress
they buried her in it
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4. |
Mrs. James K Polk*
03:30
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we’ve got to talk about sarah
the one that called herself mrs james k polk
they never had any children
they put everything/all their focus into his life and work
put their energy in/to politics and it worked
she/sarah got a lot of credit
an equal partner power couple in an antique world
no doubt she was productive
but theres a reason why and it isn’t good
i think you know where i’m going with this…
she’s gonna have an asterisk by her name
a plantation owning southern belle with fifty slaves
Without them she’d be useless
there is a bitterness to her name
built upon the labor of her “fifty” slaves
she wanted to be famous
well well sarah, you got your wish,
but it comes with an asterisk
when the civil war broke out
she/sarah clearly sympathized with the southern side
but she pretended to be neutral
to get favors from old friends in washington
ran a confederate oasis
fellow traitors found a safe space in her home
as tennesee burned around her
sarah held on to a horrid way of life
there was no excuse in/by 1865
she’s gonna have an asterisk by her name
a plantation owning southern belle with fifty slaves
religious and self righteous
there is a bitterness to her name
built upon the labor of her 50 slaves
Hard to make excuses
you won’t find any sympathy here
even though it was a different time, an older year
you wanted to be famous
well well sarah, you got your wish but it comes with an asterisk
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5. |
Poor Mary Todd
04:00
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mary lincoln fell apart
grief overwhelmed a broken heart
she sat beside her lover when a point blank shot
ripped everything away
i bet her left ear rang for days
poor mary todd, she went insane
she had a temper, she got jealous
she could really be anyone of us
a little needy, a bit compulsive
find me somebody that never was
maybe we, can give her a break cuz
mary lincoln lost three sons
the second was the hardest one
when willie died of typhoid mary came undone
she spent three weeks in her bed
skipped the funeral downstairs
she never went in his room again
poor mary todd had gone over the edge
a bit manic, she had headaches
we should forgive a little opium
she had a seance in the white house
the psychics found an easy mark
The First Lady was gullible
mary grew more paranoid
suspicious of her oldest boy
three months in an asylum (after) she tried to kill herself
a jury and a judge
sent mary todd where she couldn’t hurt anyone
mary, nobody wanted to steal from you
no you didnt have to carry all your money around
mary, you went and ruined your favorite dress
adding pockets for the money you kept carrying around
and when she finally went to sleep
in her sister’s house at 63
by the end her vision failed her, she could hardly see
they buried her in white
after twenty years in black
reunited with them at last
poor mary todd, in peaceful rest
**
we know she could be corrupted
by fortune tellers and spiritualists
more than just wishful thinking
she thought that she was talking with them
we know that she was bad with money
shopping for the finest things
she kept on buying curtains
with no home to hang them in
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6. |
My Dear Julia
02:15
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A letter from Ulysses S. Grant
August 31, 1844
My Dear Julia,
Your two letters of July and August have just been received and read you can scarcely imagine with how much pleasure. I have waited so long for an answer to my three letters that I began to despair of ever receiving a letter from you. But it came at last and how agreeable the surprise!
Take example in punctuality by me Julia. I have received your letters only today and now I am answering them. But I can forgive you since the tone of your last letter, the one in pencil, is so conclusive of constancy.
I am sorry to hear that your mother thinks there is nothing serious in our engagement, with me nothing is more serious or half as pleasant to think of. Since the arrival of your letters I have read them over and over again and will continue to do so until another comes….
You say julia that you often dream of me! Do tell me some of your good ones, don't tell me any more of the bad ones. But it is an old saying that dreams go by contraries, so I shall hope you will never find me in the condition you dreamt I was in.
And to think that while I am writing this the ring I used to wear is on your hand! Parting with that ring, Julia, was the strongest evidence I could have given you, in the way of a present, of the depth and sincerity of my love for you. Write me soon...
Take a little ride and put your letter in the post office. and on the road think of some of the conversations we used to have when we rode together
Most truly and devotedly your lover,
Ulysses
P.S. find some name beginning with “S” for me Julia. You know I have an "S" in my name and don't know what it stands for
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7. |
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She did her best
Edith was the president, more or less
Woodrow Wilson had a stroke, Edith Wilson took control
Woodrow Wilson had a stroke, Edith Wilson took control
The president was paralyzed
no feeling on his left side
woodrow and edith hid upstairs
a conspiracy to block/hide the truth
(the) doctors lied, rumors grew
what’s really going on up there?
Woodrow Wilson had a stroke, Edith Wilson took control
Woodrow Wilson had a stroke, Edith Wilson took control
his wife called all the shots now
Keep everybody else out
The president //woodrow wilson needs his rest
She made decisions he would have made,
From/sat by his bedside every day
gave permission, she knew/learned how to sign his name
she did her best
edith was the president more or less
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8. |
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if you take the word of con man gaston means
florence harding was capable of anything
if you’re the type that believes everything you read
keep your eyes off “the strange death of president harding”
a lot of controversy after warren died
there was/corruption at teapot dome and a couple women on the side
sadly florence herself wasn’t far/long behind
she died fourteen months after him, with no family left to defend her/them
did florence kill warren? probably not
he had a heart condition
Did florence kill warren? Probably not
but if you believe/take the word of noted/famous liar gaston means
the first lady poisoned him and (then she) refused an autopsy
she masterminded the entire thing
she had to sacrifice him to save him, it was her destiny
the/some/our people love a good conspiracy, nothings changed there
he sold a lot of books, did damage to her legacy, not quite fair
gaston means made the entire thing up
He had hired a ghost writer, he admitted as much
did florence kill warren? probably not
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9. |
Lou Hoover Was Good
03:39
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lou hoover was good
too bad (that) herbert was a bottom tier president
she spoke mandarin, they had traveled the whole world
they (both) had done a lot of work, helping other people
but time has not been kind to him
so time has not been good to lou
lou hoover was good
born for the outdoors, she could catch a fish and ride a horse
a girl scout president, a deadeye with a .35
they both had helped a lot of kids, paying for their college/funding education
but time has not been kind to him
so time has not been good to lou
lou hoover was good
a well read geologist with a gift for languages
big philanthropist, they got rich and gave millions back
but when the great depression hit, it sunk their reputation
time has not been kind to him
so time has not been good to lou
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10. |
Lovebirds
03:16
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harry got knocked off his feet the first time that he saw bess
a little boy too nervous to speak to a/the girl in her sunday dress
Her mom thought she was out of his league, he wouldnt give up so fast
harry truman got the girl of his dreams thirty years after that
they were two lovebirds
singing a song with no words
it goes la da da da da da da
before he left to fight in the war, she gave him a photograph
he carried it over his heart, felt it with every breath
she prayed for him to come home, he wrote her every day
the hero hung up his uniform and they got married right away
newlywed lovebirds
singing a song with no words
it goes la da da da da da da
she generally kept to herself, burned/destroyed everything she wrote
bess kept all of his letters, they could fill a book
they might have looked like old fashioned squares, but when truman was president
they must have been knocking their boots like a couple of kids, they broke the white house bed
just a couple lovebirds
singing a song with no words
it goes la da da da da da da
and they only ever owned one home
the same nest where bess had grown up
the truman’s raised a little girl there
now maggie’s on her own, she’s grown up
it was obvious they would go back
the lovebirds returned to grow old there
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11. |
Mamie
03:06
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just what the country ordered after our boys came home
time to create a new normal, better than the one before
maybe that was a job for mamie
the eisenhowers kept climbing higher, a hero that earned his fame
Traveling the world as a soldier, ike was a household name
and mamie was the general’s lady
bobbed her hair/kept her bangs the entire time
a certain normalcy defined
living a new cliche
for eight years she played it safe
a definition fifties wife
colorizing black and white
A good friend that could relate//a good friend in mamie pink
Bringing in a brand/future new age
serving casserole in the white house, wearing out an old dress
they were used to being resourceful, living on a military check
mamie was still a middle class first lady
similar to FLOTUS before her, but not outspoken/active like eleanor
even though the public adored her, she’s been outshined by jackie O
poor mamie has been forgotten lately
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