A "VERSUS" Medley

Today's "VERSUS" offering was a repeat of Marcy Shaffer's brilliant rendering of John Newton's "Amazing Grace" into a paean to The Hopester's speech on race and race relations in the aftermath of the firestorm surrounding his former pastor, The Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright. If only Jeremiah Wright had an ounce of John Newton's faith and insight. But we don't live in a perfect world. O, yeah...

In search of an alternative to a repeat "VERSUS" parody that ran in this blog on April 16, 2008 ("Simply, Amazing"), a new (to this blog) item came to the fore: a medley of some of Marcy Shaffer's brilliant past work. So, in lieu of a repeat of "Raising Race," click on the link below and listen to Shaffer's words from the VERSUS site. (While you're there, you can listen to "Raising Race.") Marcy Shaffer turned away from her legal career to write parodies in October 2005. You go, girl! If this is (fair & balanced) appreciation, so be it.

[x Versus]
THE VERSUS OVERTURE — VERSUS Parody Medley
By Marcy Shaffer, Parodist

CIRCLE OF LIES, to "Circle of Life" (Music by Elton John/Lyrics by Tim Rice): Gary Stockdale - Lead Vocal, Background Vocals; Janis Liebhart - Background Vocals [about the Bush Administration]

ANOTHER BEEF, to “On the Street Where You Live” (Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner/Music by Frederick Loewe): Janis Liebhart – Lead Vocal [about food safety]

FOR THE NORTH POLE, to “Copacabana” (Music by Barry Manilow/Words by Bruce Sussman & Jack Feldman): Tony Jones – Lead Vocal; Mary Harris – Background Vocals [about global warming]

MALAY RIDE, to "Sleigh Ride" (Music by Leroy Anderson/Lyrics by Mitchell Parish): Janis Liebhart - Lead Vocal [about consumerism]

GUANTANAMO!, to "Camelot" (Music by Alan Jay Lerner/Music by Frederick Loewe): Gary Stockdale - Lead Vocal [about Guantanamo]

ODE TO JOIN, to Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 - Finale (Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, based on "Ode to Joy" by Friedrich Schiller): Angie Jarée – Lead Vocal, Background Vocals; Janis Liebhart – Lead Vocal, Background Vocals; Guy Maeda – Lead Vocal, Background Vocals; Victor Zharkov – Lead Vocal, Background Vocals [about democracy in America]

PARTITION!, to "Tradition," from Fiddler On The Roof (Music by Jerry Bock/Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick): Janis Liebhart - Lead Vocal, Background Vocals; Gary Stockdale - Lead Vocal; Background Vocals [about Iraq]

Greg Hilfman - music director

[The co-producers of VERSUS wrote:

So many wrongs. So little time.

Thus the genesis of VERSUS. Born of the conviction that musical parody is mightier than PowerPoint, VERSUS is an equal opportunity skewer-er of the ruthless, the truthless, the reckless, the feckless.

VERSUS parodies are written by Marcy Shaffer, whose professional writing experience includes television, film, lyrics, verse and … musical parody. The parody lyrics on the page become the audio of VERSUS courtesy of some of the best musical talent in the business.

VERSUS is co-produced by Russ Meyer, a private equity veteran whose industry expertise includes financial services as well as entertainment.]

℗ © 2006, 2007 RMSWorks LLC. Lyrics © 2005, 2006, 2007 RMSWorks LLC.

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