Too Many Books! ("The Stories In My Mind"/Metropolitan Room/NYC)
http://www.dennislivingston.com
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Show more" for song description, context & lyrics
This song was part of the revue
THE
STORIES IN MY
MIND: THE
SONGS OF DENNIS LIVINGSTON
As presented
10/15/11 at the
Metropolitan Room,
NYC
Cast:
Scott Coulter,
Julie Reyburn,
Kenneth Gartman,
Christina Connors,
Alex Goley
Director: Scott Coulter
Music Director: Kenneth Gartman
Bass:
Matt Scharfglass
Videographer:
Karen Marshall
"Too Many
Books!"
Words & Music by
Dennis Livingston
©
2005 Hallmark Music Company
Sheet music available from dennis@dennislivingston.com
Performers in show: All
About this song: An uptempo, jazzy comic number about the perils of collecting more books than can be crammed into too small a living space; the chorus veers into opera parody.
Show context: Books are a theme that weaves through several songs in the revue, starting with this ode to book collecting, which continues into "
It's Time For
Roses" and "
The Other Side Of
The Moon."
Lyrics
I live in a
New York apartment.
Of course, it's rather small.
The neighbors are nosy, the kitchen is cozy.
I can't turn around without hitting a wall.
There's a living room, dining room,
guest room for two.
To be sure, they're the same room,
but what can you do?
It's affordable and clean,
I never see any mice.
There's only one tiny problem
in this urban paradise.
I've got too many books.
Too many God damn books!
They block the windows.
The views are gone.
I sleep in the daytime,
read till dawn.
To make room for more books,
I'll dump the bed.
Put the fridge on the street,
I'll eat out instead.
I may be a schnook,
but I keep buying
book after book, after book.
I've got too many shelves.
Too many shelves with books!
Shelves hit the ceiling,
no drapery,
in my quiet, private library.
I rappel over shelves
seeking the sink.
Crawl through the aisles
to look for a drink.
I admit I'm a nut,
stuck in a rut,
with a glut
of too many hard-copy books.
Lord of
Print,
save me from the tomes in my life.
Grant me the light
to see my own face
when I wash up at night.
Lord of Print,
let me find my bedroom at last.
Help me explore
the path that you clear
to my buried front door.
Ah, but Lord of Print
you know that in spite of it all
when push comes to shove,
as it frequently does,
given the above,
I love having
...
Too many books.
Even too many unread books.
My place smells like a musty shop.
There's no space for me to flop.
Call me demented,
call me obsessive,
anal retentive,
slightly possessive.
But I can't make myself stop ...
collecting all those
too, too, too, too, too many books.
© 2005 Hallmark Music Co.