ACT NATURALLY – Parody | Lyrics by The Freedom Toast

Sometimes the absurdity of this administration reaches such a high (or low) level that the only alternative is to try and out-crazy the craziness. So here’s a tongue-in-cheek look at the 45 phenomenon from a slightly different perspective. If nothing else he has exposed our culture’s inability to recognize gross incompetence. Lyrics are provided by The Freedom Toast.

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LYRICS to ACT NATURALLY by The Freedom Toast

They went and put me in the White House
They have made make a big fool out of me.
They need a president who’s dumb and foolish,
and all I gotta do is act naturally!

I am a man the press had to get used to.
They finally stopped complaining when I lie.
The White House don’t yet have its own golf course,
but that is something I can rectify!

Well, I hope you come and see me in the White House.
I am the hero of the GOP.
I’ll make sure your kids get no education,
and all I gotta do is act naturally!

Well, I hope you come see me in the Oval.
We‘ll have lunch in Greenland, you and me.
‘Cause I bought the fifty-first state of the Union,
and all we gotta do is eat naturally.

We’ll have some walrus-berders on a Danish.
Melted glacier water we will drink.
Show the locals we are really Inuit.
I’m a bigger real estate man than you think!

Back home the polls show that I am still leading,
with a thirty-eight percent majority.
I’m sure that’s all I need for re-election,
‘cause all I gotta do is act naturally.

Sick people, they will get no medication.
Let Puerto Rico sink into the sea!
I’ll pretend there is only Mar-a-Lago,
and all I gotta do is act naturally!

Well, I told you I was gonna be a big star:
Helicopters and black limousines,
trophy wives and paying zero taxes.
Let poor folks eat up last week’s pork and beans.

Yes, I hope you come and see me in the White House.
Four years long it may or may not be:
The biggest fool that has disgraced the Oval,
and all I had to do was Act Naturally!

ABOUT THE SOURCE MATERIAL

“Act Naturally” is a song written by Johnny Russell and Voni Morrison, originally recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, whose version reached number one on the Billboard Country Singles chart in 1963.

The song tells the tale of someone who has been jilted and because of that, can play a film part of someone sad and lonely without knowing anything about acting. It has been recorded by many other artists, including Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yoakam, Mrs. Miller, and Kidsongs.

Another highly popular version is from the Beatles in 1965. Featuring Ringo Starr taking the lead vocal, it became a featured performance number of his in concert, both with the Beatles and later with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

Russell, the writer of Act Naturally was originally from Mississippi and was based in Fresno, California in the early 1960s. One night, some of his friends from Oklahoma planned to do a recording session in Los Angeles and asked him to join them. In order to do so, Russell had to break a date with his then-girlfriend.

“When she asked me why I was going to L.A., I answered, ‘They are going to put me in the movies and make a big star out of me.’ We both laughed.”

Thus inspired, Russell quickly came up with a concept for a love song based around his comment. He wrote it that day and tried to teach it to the singer he was helping in Los Angeles, but he was unable to learn it. Russell decided he wanted to record it himself, but his then-producer turned it down, claiming that songs about the movies were not hit material.

A full two years passed before anyone recorded “Act Naturally”. “No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get anyone interested in it,” Russell said.

By 1963, Russell was writing with a woman named Voni Morrison, who also worked with a Bakersfield, California-based singer named Buck Owens. After Russell played “Act Naturally” for Morrison, she thought it would be a natural for Owens, and she told Russell that she could get him to record it.

Owens did not like “Act Naturally” at first. But Buckaroo band member Don Rich heard Russell’s demo version and liked it, and eventually, the song grew on Owens. One night, Russell got a phone call from Owens asking if he could record the song, and he said yes.

“I later found out that he had already recorded the song that day and just wanted the publishing rights,” Russell said. “I was more than pleased to give him the rights in order to get the song recorded.”

Owens recorded “Act Naturally” at the Capitol Studios in Hollywood on February 12, 1963, and the single was released on March 11 as a non-album single. It entered the Billboard country charts on April 13, 1963. On June 15, Owens’ version spent the first of four non-consecutive weeks at number one. In all, it spent 28 weeks on the country charts. The song helped to make him a superstar.

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