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Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear (Randy Newman) Lyrics
I may go out tomorrow if I can borrow a coat to wear
Oh, I'd step out in style with my sincere smile and my dancing bear
Outrageous, alarming, courageous, charming
Oh, who would think a boy and bear
Could be well accepted everywhere
It's just amazing how fair people can be
Seen at the nicest places where well-fed faces all stop to stare
Making the grandest entrance is Simon Smith and his dancing bear
They'll love us, won't they?
They feed us, don't they?
Oh, who would think a boy and bear
Could be well accepted everywhere
It's just amazing how fair people can be
Who needs money when you're funny?
The big attraction everywhere
Will be Simon Smith and his dancing bear
That's Simon Smith and his amazing dancing bear
Oh, oh
Oh, I'd step out in style with my sincere smile and my dancing bear
Outrageous, alarming, courageous, charming
Oh, who would think a boy and bear
Could be well accepted everywhere
It's just amazing how fair people can be
Making the grandest entrance is Simon Smith and his dancing bear
They'll love us, won't they?
They feed us, don't they?
Oh, who would think a boy and bear
Could be well accepted everywhere
It's just amazing how fair people can be
The big attraction everywhere
Will be Simon Smith and his dancing bear
That's Simon Smith and his amazing dancing bear
Oh, oh
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No comments?! That's a bummer, considering Okkervil River put such a unique spin on an already great Randy Newman song. If you haven't heard this, it's on the Golden Opportunities mix, which you can find here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?izy5mjhwj3l
I tend to think of Newman's version as purely from Simon's perspective. In the lyrics, there are little hints of the sad reality of the boy's life, but Newman delivers the song in such an amazing and upbeat way--exactly how a little boy holding his teddy bear would. To him, there's no evil or injustice in the world.
But Sheff, with his mystically tragic voice, puts a different perspective on the song. I view OR's version more as an outsider looking in on Simon's story or perhaps an older Simon looking back on his past. In the cover, you're forced to confront the pain and sadness of Simon's story. Sheff's Oh-oh's at the end of the song are haunting.