"Talking Reality Television Blues" lyrics - TODD SNIDER

Well, come gather 'round and I'll sing you a song
About a crazy old world that was coming along
'Til one day some fool made the decision
To turn on the television
Of course radio reported that we'd all ignore it
And the paper said we had no time for it
But before you knew it, you knew Milton Berle
And we all had a new escape from the world

[Chorus 1:]
All tuned in, before too soon
We were watching a man walk on the moon
He made it look as easy as driving a car
Video killed the radio star
I got the talking blues

[Interlude]

Talking blues are easy to do
All you gotta rhyme is a line or two
Rhyme a line or two and then
You don't ever have to rhyme again
See? I can say whatever I want to now
You know, within reason

Say sitcom, catchphrase, game show nation
Television soon defied explanation
As the situation took to such a degree
That eventually we'd hear about a cable TV
Of course, free TV news swore we'd ignore it
And that your average family could never afford it
But again they were wrong, eventually
Everybody wanted their MTV

[Chorus 2:]
We were all tuned in, but now the shock
Was watching a kid do a thing called the "moonwalk"
Sliding backwards really was eventually too far
Reality killed that video star
I got the talking blues

So simple at first, it was hard to foresee
The impending collision with reality
But it soon seemed TV turned on itself
When "The Real World" came on like it was somethin' else
Of course actors all acted like they weren't floored
Hoping eventually that we'd all get bored
But one after another we pretended not to act
As we hurtled ever forward toward alternative facts

[Chorus 3:]
Then a show called "The Apprentice" came on and pretty soon
An old man with a comb-over had sold us the moon
And we stayed tuned in, now here we are
Reality killed by a reality star
I got the talking blues
Hills, that is