TO BE OR NOT TO BE BOP
Words and music
By Ann Hampton Callaway
To be or not to be bop
That's the question that I heard a cat pop
The other night
He was gettin' tight
And trying to recite Billy Shakespeare
He turned to me with a glass of J & B and said
"I'm just like Hamlet
I've got it just as bad”
I bummed a cigarette and asked him what he meant
He said, "I'm just like Hamlet
An indecisive lad”
I said "What?
What could be the problem?
You've got talent up the wazoo”
He said Bird had hit him with the bebop
And now he hadn't a clue what to do
"Should I make bucks blowin' R&B and pop
Or should I live on peanut butter blowin' bebop?”
CHORUS
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bo
p
He ordered us a round and then continued
He said, "You see me drinkin' and drownin'
Ev'ry sorrow, baby
To sleep perchance to dream
And though I'll wakeup with a hangover tomorrow, girl
Its gonna be worth it ‘cause you know what I've seen
I go to sleep
And ev'ry peep
Is from a major cat on 52nd Street
I'm tradin' eights with Dexter Gordon
Or doin' a dirty double time with Max Roach
I'm getting' a groove with Monk or Charlie Mingus
Or diggin' Sonny Rollins as my saxophone coach
And the fete a complis
Is the wild jamboree
Of me and Bird and Dizzy blowin' Cherokee”
CHORUS
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
It was almost four o'clock and time to close up shop
I was gettin' sleepy and slurrin' my speech
And said, "Why don't you just do what you love?”
He said "I got myself a fair Ophelia
And if I can't make some bread
She's gonna give me a shove
She digs Destiny's Child
Usher and Sting
And she says she doesn't understand my bebop thing”
He was startin' to ham it up
And stood on top of his stool
Playin' Hamlet in a commercial
Sellin' pain like a fool
He said, "Here's some slings and arrows
But that's not all you get
We'll send you the hits of Patsy Cline
And the Ginsu knife set”
When we were thrown in the street
This cat was still on his feet
Singin' the same ol' question
With the bebop beat
CHORUS/CODA
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
He had the bums and bag ladies singin' along
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
A cop had even stopped him so he'd teach him the song
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
To be or not to be bop
When the sun rose over Manhattan
He was still goin' strong
SCAT
To be or not to be bop!