“Okay, you’re gonna do the Pum-ba-dee-da part, and I’ll sing the words.”
…
“We’re not doing Happy Trails, Bobby. There’s no Pum-ba-dee-da part.”
“Ah. What about Ah-weem-ah-way?”
“Not singing that one, either.”
“What are we singing?”
“National Anthem.”
“Which nation?”
“America.”
“Happy Trails is an incredibly American song.”
“Bob.”
“So is Lion Sleeps Tonight, now that I think about it: black guys wrote it, and white guys stole all the royalties. Nothing more American than that.”
“Bob.”
…
“How about we do El Paso?”
“Gotta sing the National Anthem, man.”
“Whatever happened to freedom of speech?”
“We’re not speaking. We’re singing.”
“You make a good point.”
I spent a summer working as a private chef for George David Weiss. He gave my daughter an autographed copy of the sheet music to “What A Wonderful World”.
Not a mean bone in that man’s body.
I believe he settled accordingly.