All this excitement about Barrack Obama has got me to thinking about a ditty by Ken Nordine, called Flibberty Jib.

Ken Nordine is a spoken word and voice-over talent known for his "word jazz" recordings from the late 50s. From wikepedia, "Many of his word jazz tracks feature critiques of societal norms. Some are lightweight and humorous, while others reveal dark, paranoid undercurrents and bizarre, dream-like scenarios."

"Flibberty Jib" is a story about a dark stranger who comes to a small town, gathers them together and chants "Fibberty jib on the bippety bop. Fliberty jib on the bippety bop." over and over until the whole crowd is chanting with him.

It's one of those stories with a chorus and the chorus is, of course, flibberty jib on the bippety bop.

The experience with the stranger brings the townspeople together but he has to go. He comes back now and again and each time the same thing happens...he gathers them together and he starts to chant "flibberty jib on the bippety bop" and they chant with him and the magic is back.

Pretty soon the people want the stranger to be their king. He comes back less and less and by the end of the story, the people are just waiting for him to come back. (That's my recollection after hearing it only once)

Ken usually ended the story by saying, "So, how are things in your town?"

I saw Nordine do this piece with the Grateful Dead, in Chicago in the 80s. It was totally amazing. The other level, when you hear it live, is that you are the townspeople and Ken is the dark stranger. Like I said...amazing.

I would love to reprint the lyrics or link to it but Mr. Nordine doesn't wish for his work to be passed around like so. So what follows are three links to help you "get the picture" of Fibberty Jib, Nordine and how it relates to...Obama & Yes, we can!