AIR CONDITIONER SONG
(Jack Clement)


Bobby Bare - 1967



Where the gentle summer breezes blow

(SPOKEN:
I've lived in Kansas City all of my life 
And I guess you could say I've done pretty well
'Cause we live in a modern, well insulated house in the suburbs
With storm windows central heatin' and air-conditionin'
We got plenty of privacy, the neighbours don't bother us and we don't bother them
But you take that air-conditioner for instance
That's a wonderful invention and I wouldn't take anything for it
But you know sometimes I get to thinkin'
I'd just like to open all of the windows and holler at somebody
Or feel an honest-to-goodness breeze again
Or even hear a train whistle
Or hear those two girls in Newport Arkansas singin' You Are My Sunshine
When I was a kid I used to visit my grandparents every summer in Newport
And Newport's a little town down on the White River
And they lived in the sort of yellow framed house down close to the levee
And they got awful hot there during the day
But at night the breeze would blow in from the river and it sure felt good
I slept right next to the window and on some nights when the air was just right
I could hear sounds driftin' in from all parts of that little town
Like the train pullin' into the depot ever night and always the chorus of crickets
But crickets, that's a sound you don't even hear after you get used to it
But it's pleasant, sorta like background music
But the sound I remember most was You Are My Sunshine
I don't know exactly where it came from
But I think it must have been the house beyond the vacant lot on the other corner
But almost every night I would hear those two girls singin'
And they sure could sing pretty
They sang other songs, but that's the one I remember most
And I've often wondered who they were and whatever happened to 'em
I think they must have been very pretty and had black hair.....)

Oh, the sound of the thing is not a ring
It's more like a pleasant purr
And the only sound I hear at night
Is the sound of my purring air-conditioner

The air is pure and dehumidified
Thermostatically controlled
Now I have no desire to perspire
And that's how progress goes

But the sound of their singing thrilled me 
As distantly, but clearly it rang
Though I never saw their faces
And never knew their names

And the gentle breeze brought sweet dreams
Of sweethearts that I never saw
Who sang You Are My Sunshine
In Newport, Arkansas






(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - November 2011)