"Melancholy Elephants"
lyrics by Benjamin Newman
ttto: "Little Fuzzy Animals" by Frank Hayes

/ Am - Dm E / / Am - F G / CG Am CE Am /

In a grim, dystopic future, writing songs is never done
For composers of the past have written (almost) every one
They hold copyright forever which their heirs will not release
So the work of writing music has entirely ceased

	/ Am - Dm - / Am - CE Am /

	Yes, the work of writing music, the love of writing music
	The joy of writing music has entirely ceased

To calculate a count of all the songs that might be wrote
Several choices we must multiply for every single note
But a culture's taste in music forms a very strong contraint
You might think there should be trillions, but in fact there ain't

	There are definitely millions, I suppose there might be billions
	You might think there should be trillions, but in fact there ain't

Several million songs would seem enough until we note the fact
That a copyright infringement doesn't need to be exact
It can vary in its details, be as short as half a verse
So the risk of songs infringing songs is much, much worse

	Yes, the risk of songs infringing songs, bits matching little bits of songs
	The risk of songs infringing songs is much, much worse

There's a world of sharing songs we write that takes this all in stride
It's called the folk tradition, and its spark has never died
We create by imitation, and we keep that calling yet
Against the melancholy elephants who can't forget

	Those melancholy elephants, sad misguided elephants
	Melancholy elephants who can't forget

	Until the melancholy elephants, the ones who run the music biz
	Lay claim to every song there is and won't forget