Jim Novak Songwriter

There’s a fun bit of 20th Century political trivia associated with the 1963 hit song for Lesley Gore, “It’s My Party (and I’ll Cry If I Want To).”  In November, 1980, the freeform student radio station at the University of Michigan, WCBN-FM, played the song on its air continuously for 18 hours when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the presidential election.

I’ve taken a different tack in my homage to the classic work by the songwriters Weiner, Gold and Gluck.  Here’s the link to my performing the song on ukelele: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkl6mwYBYJQ. My version says “I’ll LIE if I want to.”  

A number of news articles in 2018 were saying that the popularity of the “establishment /business Republicans” was fading — or had already faded — under the blazing fervor and fawning of Trump’s supporters in “the base.”  Those perceiving the GOP as HIS party were totally right, as far as I could tell.  Cue Lesley Gore.  Around the same time, fact-checkers at newspapers such as the Post and the Times were keeping track of the astonishing number of “false or misleading claims” the world was hearing from Trump. (Remember how reluctant they were back then to use the word “lies”?)  Cue Lesley Gore again, this time with “lie if I want to”, and there I was, off to the races, with a song in the first-person, following the lead of Weiner, Gold and Gluck.   

Here’s my lyrics as of early 2024.  I’ve dropped some of the lines from my versions of the song in 2018 and 2022 —about emoluments for example — because there’s been just so much going on!

MY PARTY (AND I’LL LIE IF I WANT TO)

(1963, by Wiener, Gold and Gluck; 

additional words by Jim Novak, 2018, 2022, 2024)

It’s my Party and  I’ll lie if I want to, lie if I want to, lie if I want to

You would lie too if you knew what I knew.

Nobody knows where the GOP’s gone, but Republicans get I’m the King

They wear my red MAGA hats, and kiss my ass and my ring.

GOP voters are solid for me, that’s where I get my clout

Elected Rep’s who don’t support me, I get their asses thrown out  (Bye, Lizzie!)

It’s my Party and  I’ll lie if I want to, lie if I want to, lie if I want to

You would lie too if you do what I do 

I flirt with Vlad Putin and Victor Orban, dictator talk is my style

Women, minor’ties, L-G-B-T,  give vermin an inch, they take a mile!

GOP rank-and-file, best get this straight: Russia’s our friend, not the Press,

White supremacists, go ‘head & hate: you domestic terrorists (“Fine People”)

It’s my Party and I’ll act like I want to, distract if I want to, change facts if I  want to,  You would lie too if you knew what I knew

I tot’ly mishandled the COVID response, I kept saying Things would be fine,

It worked for me to play it all down. A half-million dead:  my bottom line!

Impeach me once, and impeach me-ee twice, I got a legal bagful of tricks

I kick and scream all the way to the bank, & love the folks of JAN 6 (“You’re special”)

It’s my Party, I’ll collude if I want to talk crude if I want to, screw you if I want to,    You’d cover up too, if you knew what I knew.

Send-‘em-back racism, dog whistles too,  then I claim Whites are oppressed,

Evangelicals boy they love me:   My greed and adulteries are blessed!

Top Secret documents, who gives a shit? I keep a bunch in my garage

So unfair now to come after me,  but Fox News treats me like God (Or they used to)!

It’s my Party, I’ll lie if I want to, alibi if I want to, de-classify if I want to  

You would lie too if you do what I do.

“Resistance” is futile, my voters don’t care, I’m disruptive, unstable, bizarre,

“Unhinged” and orange, I swear, they tell me ‘We love how you are!’

I gave you judges to end Roe vee Wade, and a wall against immigrants;

Fake electors were all set to go, but we were betrayed by Mike Pence!! (That Pussy)

 It’s my Party and I’ll lie if I want to, deny if I want to, de-certify if I want to

You would lie too if you knew what I knew.  

91 felonies, 4 different courts, elections fraud, bus-ness fraud, theft

70 million voted for me, I claim what’s corrupt is the Left

It’s my Party and I’ll lie if I want to,  lie if I want to, lie if I want to

You would lie too if you knew what I   You would lie too if you screw what I   /     You would lie too if you do what I do.   

[SAMPLE OF A DELETED VERSE:

I punish my enemies, payback is sweet, and  emoluments were no prob,

Money laundering, shadowy deals,  I’m like the Boss of this Mob!]

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2023 at Songwriters Open Mic Ann Arbor

It’s the 29th year of Songwriters Open Mic, now that the month of February has rolled in.  And in Spring, we’ll hit 4 years on Zoom, as a weekly musical event.  During 2023,  40+ musicians  Zoom-ed in to Songwriters Open Mic from 14 states.  Around 40% of the 2023 performers are Michiganders, which reflects our long history there as an in-person event.  And if we add the Ohioans and Illini, it’s a little over 50%.  The 14 states from the past year are mapped out here in yellow.  

A core of 6 or 8 regulars welcomes “irregulars” and first-time visitors.  We leave time each week for discussion of songwriting technique, and some music history, and general encouragement. Our sets are 3 songs or 15 minutes, but if more than a dozen performers turn up, we limit our sets to 2 songs or ten minutes.  

The first Tuesday evening of the the month is for original songs only; the other Tuesdays are “anything goes” (covers or originals).   As always, this year’s original songs covered a wide scope.  Love songs. Topical or political observations.  Nature settings.  Family stories.  Exotic travels.  Everyday reporting.

The covers were acoustic but all over the place, from The Folk Revival to Sixties Rock and Pop, and on to recent decades of Americana and Indie songwriters.  Some of the singer-songwriters whose names frequently came up in 2023 were John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot, Guy Clark, Jason Isbell, Bob Dylan.  

As I recall,  it was a bigger-than-usual year for songs played in alternate tunings.  And for ukuleles!  You never know, on any given Tuesday, what songs you’ll hear and what musical topics will arise.  

There is a video archive of hundreds of original songs from the open mic (both the in-person years and the Zoom years).  Search YouTube for the channel called “Songwriters Open Mic Ann Arbor.”

The Zoom link for Songwriters Open Mic changes each week.  If you want the link, either to perform your set and talk about songs, or to just listen in, write to at jimnovakmusic (at) gmail (dot) com.