Hey everyone. I'm back from my little vacation. A wrap-up and a return to full-time blogging will come soon, but today I'm pretty busy catching up at work. But for those of you dying for a Milbarge fix, here's a song that's been rattling around my head for a few days.

I like doing song parodies; I think they're fun. Usually, something in a news story reminds me of a line in a song, and off I go. I tend to use the original lyrics and structure as much as possible. I figure that I'm not going to do a lot better than a professional writer of hit songs, so why reinvent the wheel. That's certainly what happened with my Strom Thurmond/"Brown Sugar" parody. And when football season starts, I'll post my two-part ballad of former Alabama coach Mike Price.

But for now, Bill Clinton. As you know, he's been all over the news this week with the publication of his memoirs. What struck me was a line he had in an interview a few days ago. When asked why he dallied with Monica Lewinsky, Clinton replied, "Because I could." This reminded me of the famous line in Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." Cash always explained that he felt that this was the absolute worst reason to shoot a man, and Clinton's "reason" sounds about as bad. But anyway, that line set my mind in motion. I figured that the White House must have been like a kind of prison for a man of Clinton's...er, appetites. And I'm sure it gave him the blues.

So, just for reference, here is Johnny Cash's song:

I hear the train a comin', it's rolling round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when,
I'm stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin' on,
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Anton..
When I was just a baby my mama told me, "Son,
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns."
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.
Now every time I hear that whistle, I hang my head and cry...
I bet there's rich folks eating in a fancy dining car.
They're probably drinkin' coffee and smoking big cigars.
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can't be free
But those people keep a movin', and that's what tortures me...
Well if they'd free me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine,
I bet I'd move just a little further down the line.
Far from Folsom prison, that's where I want to stay,
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.....

And here is my version of Bill Clinton's White House Prison Blues:

I hear those thighs a-rustlin' as she's walking 'round the bend,
And I ain't had no lovin' since 'bout ten a.m.
I'm stuck here in this prison, can't get my freak on.
Think I'll mess 'round with this intern, while I'm on the phone.

I know what you're gonna ask me, the question isn't new.
Just how could I go cheatin' on the one who said "I do"?
Well, I did it with that intern just because I could.
And for all the grief it caused me, Lord it weren't that good.

I bet they all was laughin' on the day that I got caught,
Said all my bright potential had ended up for naught.
I guess I had it comin', 'cause I can't let whores be.
But when I think of who I married, that's what tortures me.

They finally freed me from that prison, and I'm up in New York state,
My wife is in the Senate, every night she's workin' late.
I've settled myself down, and joined the P.T.A.
And I let those lonesome housewives blow my blues away....