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A Good Man (But a Lousy Wizard)

by Also In Blue

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about

SONG BIO:

I’ve always had a soft spot for the wizard in “The Wizard of Oz.” He’s a total fraud - no magic, no actual political ability; just a flim-flam man with a faulty hot-air balloon who got lucky, but then had to keep up this “Great and Powerful Wizard” facade for decades. And let’s not forget that the whole time, he’s surrounded on all sides by actual witches, with actual magic, and armies at their command that could wipe him off the map if his mask slips for even an instant. Keeping that secret, from his enemies and his own people, must have been exhausting, but he seems to have managed it with a smile and a good deal of panache. So, that’s what the song is about - slightly misquoting the book; in his own words, “I’m really a very good man; but I’m a very bad Wizard, I must admit.”

lyrics

LYRICS:

They called me crazy
When I showed up on the scene
Took a major modern city
And painted it rattle can green
Now nobody laughs
At my political machine
They call me “Great and Powerful”
Like they know what that means…
It’s all a lie,
But when you fall from the sky
You’d be amazed at what will fly
If you’ve got the guts to try it
Now I’m


All tangled up in green -
When they asked for magic, I delivered.
Don’t look behind the screen -
I’m a good man… But a lousy wizard.


Back home in Kansas,
I was nothin’ but a sham.
I was a homely little humbug
Just a shadow of a man
Now here I am!
I’m the wizard with the plan!
Just don’t ask to me to reveal it -
‘Cause I don’t think that I can.
It’s not allowed.
You can scrape, you can bow,
But no one gets to see the wizard,
Not nobody, not no how, now I’m -


All tangled up in green -
Let the Munchkins call me lily-livered…
Don’t look behind the screen -
I’m a good man… But a lousy wizard.


Lately I’ve been filled with doubt
If they ever found me out…
Oh, God, there’d be hell to pay,
And I guess that’s only fair…

See the wizard stand alone,
A liar on an emerald throne…

I miss the mornings at the county fairs
When they’d wait for my balloon to take them so high in the air
When they knew the magic was a trick, and no one really cared
That’s what they came for…


Witches to the south and west,
Witches to the east,
I’m the joker in the middle,
And I’m lying through my teeth
I’m having a blast
I just hope that I can keep
Up all the ruses I’ve been using
If the people stay asleep
I should be fine -
Pay that curtain no mind!
It’s my last line of defense,
And there’s so much on the line…
Now I’m -


All tangled up in green -
There are consequences to consider
Don’t look behind the screen -
I’m a good man… But a lousy wizard.

All tangled up in green -
If you ask for magic, I’ll deliver.
Don’t look behind the screen -
I’m a good man… But a lousy wizard.

credits

released March 21, 2022

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Also In Blue Peekskill, New York

Also in Blue is the nom de guerre of an overeducated, under-stimulated songwriter without a serious direction, who writes at the expense of doing the dishes or getting reasonable amounts of sleep. His brand new YouTube channel (link below!) contains the greatest, most important work he’s ever done. He always says this about whatever his latest project is, in the hopes that it turns out to be true. ... more

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