Requiem for The Californian (to the tune of American Pie)

A long, long time ago

I can still remember The Californian on my driveway

I knew that I could take the time to read the news and various opinions

And maybe be informed for a while

But nowadays I get a shiver. One less paper is delivered

The news won't get reported, I guess it's been deported?

I remember that I didn't cry when I read that the press went dry

I just paused and gave a sigh, the day the newsprint died

So bye, bye to our American press

Miss Liberty is crying and her dress is a mess

Information will be served by corporate media

With the masses eating up what they feed 'ya

We just eat whatever they feed us

So who tells the storied news and is it always fair and balanced

'Cause the channel tells you so

Do you believe in left and right? Can politics become your compass soul

Can news anchors spin what's happening real slow?

Well, I know we are a country divided because the other side is always derided

Both sides lost their class – likes two sides to an ass

I'm American with a newspaper and a coffee cup

But don't bother asking me what's up

Because we are all now out of luck ever since the news ink dried

I started singing, bye bye to our American Press

The newspaper business is in a state of distress

The news corporation will spin all our information, sayin'

We will tell you a version of the news

While you just have yourself a nice snooze

For decades now corporations gained the throne, and moss grew fat on Plymouth Stone

Whence a people yearned to be free

As companies gained powers of kings and queens in an economy made of steam

They controlled the voice of you and me

Oh, and while the media killed the news, the people took a mighty snooze

The Supreme Court has ruled – We the people were fooled

Companies were given the rights of people obediently praying beneath a steeple

And we've been told stories in the dark ever since the newspapers died

We were singing, bye bye to the American Press

The newspaper business is in a state of distress

The talking heads spin so smugly and sly, saying

We will tell you when to ask why

You don't ever have to ask why

Southwest Riverside News Network is now gone – more journalists now out of work

The Fourth Estate is falling fast

The sail of truth lost its mast

The politicians received a pass without the questions reporters used to ask

Now, city hall is just a stage while citizens sit with useless rage

We all got up to talk, oh but nobody hears the gadfly's squawk

The citizens tried to take the field but the politicians refused to yield

Information has been repealed ever since the newspapers died

We started singing, bye bye to our American Press

The news-info business is in a state of distress

Information will be served by corporate media

With masses eating up what they feed 'ya

We just eat whatever they feed us

We're all here in this town – without a solid newspaper hound

There's nothing left we need to know

So, come on, Jack be quiet, Jack don't riot – Jack does as he's told to do, 'cause

That's how power keeps its hold

As politicians took the stage, the people in a virtual cage,

The reporter who can't spell doesn't dare ask, “what the hell?”

And, as the silence reigned the day and night, the newspapers dimmed like candlelight

I saw politicians laughing with delight, the day the news media died

He was singing, bye bye our American Press

The news-info business is in a state of distress

The talking heads are spinning smugly and sly, saying

We have our version of the news so

You won't have to know that you lose

I saw a Founder singing the blues and I asked him for some happy news

He just shrugged and faded away

I went out to get informed, but the news industry is now deformed

The reporter had nothing intelligent to say

And in the streets the people slept, the peasants bowed as the politicians crept

But no news was reported, authority won't be retorted

And the newsprint I once adored leaves me sad and slightly bored

The news industry won't be restored

Since corporate infotainment has arrived

And they were singing, bye bye to the American press

The newspaper business is in a state of distress

The news corporation will spin out fractured information, sayin'

We will sell you our version of the news

While you have yourself a nice snooze

They were singing, bye bye to our American press

Miss Liberty is crying and her dress is a mess

What passes for news just gives me the blues

Because journalism silently died